Zootopia: Aftermath - Old Version
by AgentExeider
Summary: A new threat has reared its head in Zootopia, a terrorist attack, but the perpetrator seems obsessed with Officer Judy Hopps. For what reason? Who is this bomber? And what is the connection to Officer Hopps? Even though we may be done with our past, sometimes our past isn't done with us. Some sins just can't be forgiven, and some mistakes just can't be made right. (Old Version)


*Author's Notes*

A number of people have messaged me wanting to read what the old versions of the fics, and even though I was in the renovation, they told me they wanted to read the old versions for comparison sake. So I've decided to reupload the old versions to FFN only for now, and they won't be delineated by chapter, so the whole thing in a single chapter filing. So here you guys go, enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 1: The all-important first lesson…

 _Zootopia….Precinct One….4:55 pm_

Detectives Hopps and Wilde had finally managed to finish the last of their paperwork and were getting ready to go home for the day. Their desks were the hallmark of their respective personalities; Judy with her organized and orderly desk and Nick with papers scattered around, pens, pencils and paperweights keeping the ordered chaos from blowing away.

It being summer, the nearby fan on the filing cabinet was turned on, trying to beat back the heat that had built up throughout the day.

"So Nick, what's the plan tonight? You want to stay in, or maybe we could go out, catch a movie?"

"Ya know, it's been awhile since we just walked and talked, plus there's that new park that opened up near our place."

"At night?" Judy asked, skeptical.

Nick chuckled, "Oh Carrots, it's well lit, and besides, it's not like we live in a bad part of town. I've seen couples go there a lot, I kind of wanted to share that with you." He smiled warmly.

"Mmm, sounds perfect, actually." She smiled, a small blush on her cheeks.

"I have my moments," he replied, continuing his eternal smile.

Nearby there was a small commotion, a few officers came out of the break room and turned on a nearby TV, flipping through the channels

"Yeah, it's the same thing out here," said one officer.

"What's going on?" said another.

"Is it one of those test things?" said a third.

Judy's ears turned towards the sound from the TV, a high pitched tone usually of the emergency broadcast system to get people's attention, her head turned along with Nick's. They stood from their chairs and walked over.

The tone was accompanied by a stylized logo saying "Zootopia welcomes you" from the many city billboards, but the colors inverted and the letters distorted. The tone and logo disappear and clips from various news broadcast began to play, each only a second in length. Judy recognized a few of them, one from the Gazelle protest during the savage case, others from the near riot that broke out afterwards. The rest were seemingly stock footage of violence and chaos, imagery and sounds to illicit an emotional response of fear. Then the screen went black again and a voice began to speak. Deep, guttural, and booming, each word enunciated in proper Zootopian.

 _"Greetings, Zootopia… I apologize for interrupting your regularly scheduled programming."_

Judy turned to notice every mammal in the station, police, cuffed criminal and civilian had their attention locked onto the screen. Judy could almost feel that the entire city was doing the same.

 _"They say that in Zootopia "Anyone Can Be Anything". Affectionate words listed on billboards and media for the city."_

 _"The truth of those words is as hollow as the mammals who wrote them…"_

 _"Words created by prey to alleviate the guilt of the suffering they wage on predators every day."_

 _"The suffering they wage is not one of physical harm, but it is violence against them nonetheless."_

 _"It is the suffering caused by instilling hope, when there is none, of creating the illusion of something that doesn't exist."_

 _"In truth, there is a danger in this city. But it isn't that of savage predators."_

The black screen cut to a clip of Judy's press conference, the clip with its focus changed and its color values distorted for effect.

 _"…it may have something to do with biology….."_

 _"…a biological component. You know, something in their DNA…"_

 _"…Thousands of year ago… Uh, predators survived through their a-aggressive hunting instincts…"_

 _"….We must be vigilant. And we at the ZPD are prepared and are here to protect you….."_

The screen cut to a stock shot of the police station, the mayor's office and various other well-known Zootopia landmarks, the voice returned.

 _"The true danger lies in the duplicity of prey; they pretend to be our friends, our neighbors, and yet in a moment all of that connection drops away to fear and distrust."_

The audio cut, and played what clearly sounded like a recording, the words of which made Nick and Judy look to each other in absolute bewilderment as to how it could have been captured.

 _"So let me ask you a question? Are you afraid of me? Do you think I might go nuts? You think I might go savage? You think I might try to EAT you!"_ said the recording

For a moment afterward there was silence.

 _"They are afraid of you."_

 _"But I will show them. Teach to them, that there is something else to be afraid of."_ said the voice.

The video cut to a live shot of the equality monument in Sahara Square, the structured rocks arranged in a beautiful fashion, resembling a pinnacle. The mammals walking along it and on top of it unaware of the fact they are being watched.

 _"This is the so called 'Equality monument' erected to symbolize the mutual cooperation of the predators and prey in the building of this city."_

 _"However, this is nothing but a cheap knock off; the real pride rock this monument was based off was bulldozed to make way for 'progress' years ago."_

 _"It is a lie but in so doing, it tells us the truth. Erected by prey, as food for the spirits of uneducated masses."_

 _"And it fits too, because it is full of lies, and to predators, leaves a bad taste in the mouth."_

 _"Some people will call me a terrorist, but I like to think of myself as a teacher."_

 _"And Judy Hopps will be my star… pupil."_

The station gasped as the voice addressed her by name, some glancing in their direction

 _"Lesson… Number… One."_

 _"Equality… there is no such thing."_

The station went deathly quiet a moment, Judy could feel her heart beating against her chest, her purple eyes fixed on the TV. She could swear her heart stopped when it happened.

* * *

There was a series of flashes, like demolition charges, the resounding pop, similar to popcorn in a microwave. Then the deep rumble of the earth, the monument's familiar shape distorting as it fell towards the ground, huge clouds of dust began filling the air as the dirt was cast skyward, the mammals on the monument disappearing behind the debris. The larger rocks hit with an impacting thud causing the audio on the television to turn to static, but the deep resounding bass of the impact resounded with such force that it was heard and felt at the station. The vibration rippling into Judy's footpaws.

Within seconds the monument was gone, replaced by a pillar of dust, the screams of the mammals rang out. The abject shock kept everyone frozen, even after the rogue transmission cut back to the 'Zootopia Welcomes You' logo, now changed to look as though it was covered in blood, and then black, the regular broadcast coming back into view.

The silence was broken as the phones started to ring, every line, every phone, rising into a cacophony of angels crying out in sorrow. No one able to do anything until a familiar voice of the cape buffalo rang out into the station. All eyes turned to Chief Bogo.

"Higgins! Mute the phones, now!" the chief ordered.

The hippo went over to the desk sergeant and quickly hit the mute button on the phone system, the cacophony silenced as quickly as it started.

"Listen up, I know what you're thinking, what you're feeling. But we have a responsibility to get keep it together. We trained for this, so just keep your heads about you and concentrate on doing your jobs." said the Chief.

"Trunkaby, Grizzoli, Fangmeyer. Coordinate with Zootopia General, ask them what they need from us in terms of assistance."

"Delgato, Wolford, Snarlof. Blockade duty, secure ways in and out for the ambulances and rescue crews."

"Everyone else, get to the site and start pulling people from the rubble."

"Chief! What about these suspects?" called out Higgins, pointing to the two wolves in custody.

"Cut 'em loose, we don't have time to process them."

"And YOU TWO!" The Cape Buffalo pointed at the suspect wolves.

The two wolves locked gazes with a very angry buffalo.

"Go home! And tend to whatever families you have." He ordered.

The two wolves nodded obediently as Higgins took off their cuffs and muzzles.

"Hopps, Wilde, Frost! You're riding with me," called out the chief.

"We are going to get through this, and when we are done, we are going to go after this son of a bitch with everything we got," he said, trying to motivate his officers.

* * *

 _Later…_

Nick and Judy went with Bogo in the ZPD mobile command center, which looked like a long RV; the inside had banks of monitors, computers, phones and various electronic equipment even a small planning board for coordination. Frost was at the wheel driving towards the crime scene in Sahara Square, sirens blaring, lights flashing, making haste but keeping it on the road. Bogo, Nick and Judy were in the back conversing.

"Now you know I have always been supportive of your friendship with those Bureau 13 mammals, but I need to know. Does this have to do with them in ANY way? I don't have to tell you what my response would be if this is connected to some secret operation or anything like that." said Bogo.

Nick and Judy simply shrugged.

"Chief, we are as in the dark as you are, but I'm sure Kaiden and Kit would have told us if there was any impending threat to the city. I don't think they would keep such a thing to themselves." She said.

"You're sure?"

"I've trusted them with my life, sir. They would give their all before letting harm come to the city."

"Look I'm sorry to question, but I have to ask. I didn't get much of a chance to know them as well as you did."

"I understand sir," replied Judy.

"Do we have any idea of anything Chief?" asked Nick

"Right now Wilde, we are reacting, in fact I venture in twenty four hours or less, we will have every law and intelligence agency at our front doorstep, pretty much an alphabet soup we will have to wade through." Replied the Chief.

"In fact, I'm surprised that—" Bogo was interrupted by the chirp of one of the phones to his right. He picked it up, clutching it to his ear. "Yes, Mayor Deveraux…" He addressed knowing who it was.

"Yes sir, we are on our way to the site right now...I already have my teams working with medical and fire personnel...Yes sir… Yes sir… At this point, we are focusing on rescue efforts...I understand… You have my full assurance that forensic procedure will be preserved, but not at the expense of lives sir...Thank you sir… You can reach me by calling this line, I will have an officer in the MCC at all times."

Bogo hung up the phone.

"Well the mayor was watching TV like pretty much every other Zootopian tonight, I suspect he will be making a statement within an hour or so," commented Bogo.

"Frost! When we get there, park it next to the FDZ command truck."

"Got it," called out Frost.

When they got there, Frost found and parked next to the red mobile command truck of the Fire Department of Zootopia.

* * *

Over the next few hours, police, firefighters, paramedics even fellow citizens had lent a paw in rescue and recovery. The monument which now lay in abject ruin had mammals of all sizes crawling over it like ants on a hill, pulling out wounded and the dead alike. Normal citizens caught in a seemingly random act of terror, whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Judy and Nick had lent a paw in the efforts, recovering and digging people out. Nick was using his nose to sniff for mammals and helped to guide rescue crews, using his innate hunting instinct to find and recover the many animals that were buried, and Judy using her sharp hearing and small size to listen for the muffled calls for help from inside and squeeze lower into the rubble, tending to those she found with the first aid supplies.

All in all the recovery effort took over eight hours, recovering over 150 animals, many were injured, many more were dead. As an exhausted Judy and Nick had come back to the support area, near the ZPD's mobile command center, other rescue workers grabbing a quick drink or more supplies before heading back out, they went to a nearby folding table where there was a large water cooler and nearby stacks of cups. Nick has dispensed two cups of water, handing one to the tired bunny.

She up ended the cup, downing the cool contents in one or two gulps before going back to dispense some more, she winced in pain as she tried pushing the button on the dispenser, but thirst compelled her to do so regardless.

After getting her fill, she looked at her paws, they were rubbed almost raw from the grabbing, pulling, climbing and clambering. Several small cuts and scraps were on the palms of her paws, the moisture in the skin and fur were gone leaving a dry and rough feel to them, her fingers hurt to move. Nick noticed her staring at her paws and came with a moist napkin, taking each paw and wiping them down, washing away the grit and dirt, and to provide cool relief.

"It's ok, Carrots. Let me." As he wiped her paws.

"So many…" she said softly.

She turned to glance at the rubble pile that was now all that was left of the equality monument. She had ignored the glances and looks she had been getting all night, from other officers, they had all heard the broadcast. This was done for her benefit, this horrible mammal who exacted this bombing was as he said, "teaching" Judy Hopps. For what reason, no one knew, but by indicating her by name no less, they felt that in some strange way she shared responsibility for this.

Many questions were sure to be asked in the hushed tones and whispers, yet for now, there was the job, find people, rescue them, get them to help. Questions and reasoning will come later.

Judy could feel their gazes, and normally was not one to shrink from such glances, felt as though she was under a very uncomfortable microscope. Part of her wanted to run and hide, not from this bomber, but from the gazes of her fellow officers.

Nick was well aware of this, he could see the expressions on their faces, and hers. He wanted to take her away from this, hopefully soon Bogo would rotate out responders, bring in another shift if necessary, and not let her volunteer for another trip back to the pile. In his mind, more than just the victims of this horrible event, he realized someone out there was thinking of his favorite bun and in a most unfriendly way.

Nick's neck fur bristled at the thought, his general anger transmuting to more specific. "Whoever you are, if you try to hurt her, I will kill you." He thought, thinking of the unknown assailant.

Chief Bogo had stood in front of the assembly of mammals with a bullhorn, and spoke into it.

"Firstly, I want to thank you for your quick and precise action. We saved a lot of lives tonight, be proud of that."

"I know a lot of you are angry, even confused as to what happened this evening. I want you to know that every effort is going to be made in finding this perpetrator."

"Justice will be served, that's a promise. Wherever it may go, whoever it may lead to. Justice WILL be served."

"I am being told by search and rescue that we have found the majority of the victims, that the volume now is able to be managed by a smaller team. So clean up, get yourselves home and get some rest."

"Because tomorrow we run this bastard to ground, dismissed."

The cape buffalo disappeared back into the command truck, a few minutes later Gideon Frost comes out, walking over to Judy and Nick.

"Hopps, Wilde, the chief wants a word." Said the silver white timberwolf.

The duo followed Frost into the truck. Inside, the chief was sitting down, Judy and Nick managing to catch the end of the conversation as he talked into a speakerphone,

"….effort is going to be made to catch this terrorist."

"I would be careful at throwing that term around, Chief Bogo. I don't want to start a panic," warned the Mayor

"Sir, this was a political target, the broadcast on television can't be interpreted any other way, I would already say that the city is in panic, sir."

"Granted, but it's your responsibility not to let this get further out of hand."

"I will do as best I can, sir."

"You catch him Bogo, I want him caught, and I mean NOW! I don't want this to be the embassy all over again, and we never find the bastard."

The buffalo huffed as though he had just been insulted. "Yes, sir." He politely replied, talking out the side of his mouth, before pounding the disconnect button. The chief turned his attention towards the duo. "Sorry about that. I just wanted to say 'that I need you to be on your paws especially you Hopps, since you were addressed by name. Be careful."

"Yes, chief, you can count on me."

"I want you to take point on this."

"Of course, sir." she nodded.

"I'm serious, in a few hours, the FIB, MIA, and several other agencies will be at our door step, I need you to represent the ZPD in the investigation."

"What about you?"

"I'll be too busy coordinating the logistic and administration angle, this is the part of the job I hate. I need YOU to be my eyes and ears. And don't let them push you around."

"I won't sir."

"Good, because a representative from the FIB will be meeting up with you, working for the JTTF."

"JTTF, Sir?"

"Joint Terrorism Task Force."

"And who's the representative."

"I didn't catch a name, but I was told this mammal will meet you in your office at eight am."

"We won't let you down sir."

"Good, now go get some rest, the both of you, we need the Hopps and Wilde duo now more than ever. Dismissed."

The Judy gave a sharp but tired salute and they left the trailer, catching a ride back to the station with one of the officers heading that way.

* * *

When they arrived home they didn't say much, whether it was the exhaustion or simply the weight of the entire ordeal or maybe both, at least that is what Nick assumed. He watched as Judy answered the plethora of text messages that were bombasting her phone asking if she was alright, which resulted in a muzzletime call, Judy had sat at the table and comforted her parents, they had seen the broadcast and subsequent news coverage. Nick stepped into the other room to call his mother to let her know of the situation. This bombing had riled up the sensibilities and complacency of the whole city.

Nick had to calm down and reassure his mother about the whole situation, as if now realizing the danger of his new profession, but the interesting thing was the flow of the conversation was about Judy. Nancy Wilde was a smart vixen and was aware that whatever crosshairs were out there, they were pointing squarely at Judy Hopps and anyone close to her.

A few months ago shortly before the Rush case, Nick had told his mother that he and Judy were a couple. Ironically, this was something the vixen had long expected. She had met Judy three times before then, the first was at Nick's graduation and even then she had displayed the classic Wilde smirk when he took a picture of the two together. Even at that early stage, she suspected something. Out of the many people to come and go into her son's life, this young rabbit named Judy Hopps made Nick change for the better. A sign as she took it, for better times.

After Nick had finished his phone call with his mother, and the exchange of 'I love yous' to end the call, it only made Nick more concerned. Not much in this world would rattle the cage of his mother, and if she was concerned, then the danger was real and immediate.

Nick trotted back out to the den and saw Judy finishing up her phone call to her parents, her nervous smile and understatements of the situation, trying to play it off like it was no big deal. This was the stark contrast between how Nick and his mother vs Judy and her parents, she would try to minimize, conceal or otherwise obfuscate the truth from them, while Nick would face it head on. Perhaps the product of urban living vs country living, Nick wasn't sure.

Judy had taken Nick to her parents once before back during the early days of their partnership and at the time friendship, she had introduced him to her family, to which the brothers, sisters, cousins took to Nick, he suspected that her father did not, being the protective patriarch that he was, Judy's behavior would change in the face of her father. It took the fox by surprise at first to see that side of her, gentle and kind and a bit of a Daddy's girl, when he had known her as a tough, enthusiastic and eager to prove herself kind of rabbit. But then again, that was then, when she _DID_ have to prove herself, and her value _WAS_ of question.

But that was seemingly a lifetime ago, before a lifetime of conspiracies and cases, and societal upsets, of personal growth and confidence. Back when each had their assumptions about the other and about how they _thought_ the way world worked.

While mulling over all these thoughts a question came to mind, at first it seemed trivial especially given the light of current events, but of course this is when these kinds of questions often rear their heads. However given the many thoughts that must be coursing through his favorite bun's head, silence seemed the best course, it wasn't worth the argument that might start in light of exhaustion and stress.

The two of them went through the routine they always do, Nick would make dinner, Judy would set out their uniforms for the next day, they would take turns hitting the shower, trading nuzzles and kisses throughout the evening. Usually followed by either watching of a favorite show or saved movie on the DVR, or more romantic pursuits. However not tonight, not with the spectre hanging over the city, that had reached into their happy home and created an air of anxiety and fear.

They sat in bed, in silence, hearing the sounds of the outside world, holding each other, enjoying the warmth and contentment of each other's embrace. He could feel her apprehension; he had never known her to be this way nor himself. He petted her head, and nuzzled her cheek.

"What's the matter Carrots?" Nick asked.

Judy remained in silence for a few moments and then finally looked back at Nick, looking into his emerald eyes.

"People died Nick….and it's my fault."

"What?!" he asked incredulously.

"How can you say that?"

"You heard it Nick, whoever this mammal is, he bombed that monument….killed and hurt so many people…..just to 'teach me a lesson'."

"You can't blame yourself for that, Carrots."

"Yes, I can…This last year, we've changed things, and I mean _BIG_ things."

"We've toppled a mayor and deputy mayor, we got involved in a generations old conspiracy, AND ended it, and busted a major drug ring, run but one of the former members of said age old conspiracy."

"And that's not to mention of the OTHER cases, lesser exciting ones we've investigated for the last 6 months."

"Whoever has a bone to pick with me, could be anyone."

"I hope you're not lumping me with 'anyone', Carrots." Nick replied with a jovial tone.

"Nick, stop it, it's no time to joke." She replied back with a slight playfulness.

"Hey…..we'll get through this, we always do." He said trying to reassure her, holding her chin with his thumb and index finger.

"How do you do that?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Do what?"

"Make me feel better?"

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"You know what I mean, you have this way where you can say things, just so, and it makes me feel warm inside, and I just…..feel better."

"It's because I love you, you silly bunny." Nick replied with a loving smile.

"I really believe that….I mean I can feel it from you." She said hugging him extra tight.

Nick gave her a soft smile.

"Always Carrots, always."

"You sure you still want to run around with me?" she said playfully.

"Yes, Carrots."

"Even if we get a low life expectancy as a result?"

"I would rather have a day with you then live the next 50 years without you. You know that." Nick replied.

Judy looked at him strangely, as if suddenly struck by a distant thought.

"Wait…you've said that before."

"No I haven't." he retorted.

"You sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"It's not like a movie quote or something?"

"No, Carrots, one hundred percent, Wilde certified."

"I just…..I just could have sworn I've heard you say that before."

"Déjà vu?"

"Maybe…"

Sleep finally found the pair, couched in each other's arms, it was a worried and listless sleep, for they knew with the coming morning, the real task would begin.

* * *

Chapter 2: Alphabet Soup

 _Zootopia…Precinct One…7:55am_

Bogo's warning was an understatement, the chaos of dozens of agencies from around Zootopia descended upon the station like a cloud of locusts, each agency with their own way of doing things and the inevitable squabble over jurisdiction. In truth, it was a fur ball. And all at once Judy and Nick understood what the Cape Buffalo was meaning the night before. It would require his full attention to keep all these agencies from stepping on each other's paws, and create some kind of cohesive effort. Otherwise devolve into a useless chaotic mess of activity and energy and time wasted. 'Too many cooks spoil the meal.' This would be the warning of which Bogo would operate, hence why he entrusted the actual effort of investigation to Wilde and Hopps, who would be the ZPD's agents of this particular endeavor.

Nick and Judy got to their desks at the station; they wondered how they would be able to pick out their contact from this crowd. A question they didn't have to ask for long, for their contact made herself known. Wading through the crowd making way for them, the motion of her said, business, a vixen, arctic fox with eyes of a cloudless sky, she walked up to the duo giving both of them a once over.

"So you're the two officers I'm supposed to meet?" she said unimpressed.

"Um…yes, I'm Judy Hopps and this is Nick….Wilde." replied the bunny introducing herself and partner.

"Pleased to meet you, sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances." The vixen replied, shaking both of their paws.

"I'm Special Agent Vivian Carter, FIB, part of the Joint Terrorism Task Force."

"Yes, we heard." Replied Nick

"What exactly do they do?"

"Well simply it's a partnership between the FIB and law enforcement agencies such as the ZPD, to respond to terror threats such as this one." The vixen replied.

"So you work these kinds of cases often?" asked Judy.

"Actually no, I got the call last night to take part in this, lately I have been working on the cryo recovery task force, all those stiffs that were found in Kai Ren Medical after the plague incident. I work on getting them recovered and placed back with their families, where possible. Or at the very least back into society."

"There are that many?" asked Judy

"Oh yeah, in fact it could take years to get through them all. And thanks to this terrorist, we have to delay our work just to go chasing after him." The vixen replied annoyed.

Vivian placed the folder down

"Preliminary analysis on the explosives." She offered

Judy picked up the folder and pulled out the report.

"Wow, that was fast."

"Well, when you're responsible for a monument being destroyed and the maiming of 150 mammals that gets people's attention."

Judy turned her gaze back to Vivian for a second, unsure whether that response was directed at her or not.

"What did you find?" She asked, choosing to ignore the comment.

"Well, as expected its high explosives, Composition Four and RDX."

"Demolition explosives?" Suggested Judy.

"Exactly, usually obtainable only by special permit, but of course, that's assuming he purchased them legitimately."

"Nick?" Judy turned to the fox.

"Don't take this wrong but, do you know where a person could buy those kind of explosives?"

The arctic fox raised an eyebrow at the question

"Um, why would he know?" Vivian interjected.

Judy pursed her lips and her eyes darted, realizing that she slipped. Nick shifted his weight and simply smiled.

"Well, snowball, I was a small time….businessman before I became a cop and I networked with a lot of folks. Officer Hopps here was simply asking if I knew anyone from those simpler days that might be able to put us on the right track." He explained, while tossing a glance to Judy and then back to Vivian.

"First off, don't call me 'snowball' , it's Agent Carter or Vivian. Two, what kind of businessman would know anything about explosive experts?"

"Well I was involved in a fair number of ventures, some of which included construction, I'm sure I could find someone who would be able to help us."

"Mmhmm." Vivian replied not impressed.

"Well I was thinking we should start by looking at the motive here. The message itself."

"The message?" asked Nick.

"Well you have to admit, the message was particularly very anti-prey."

"True." Nick admitted

"Well what group do you know of that is pretty anti prey?" asked the vixen.

Nick simply shrugged. Vivian turned to Judy as if asking the same question, and no reply.

"Seriously? Don't they brief you on anything at the ZPD?" she asked annoyed.

Vivian took a disquieted sigh, and simply face pawed.

"Have you never heard of PAC?"

"Pack?" asked Judy.

"Yes, PAC, Predator Action Committee, they are a political group that believe preds are being treated like second class citizens."

"You've seen them. The preds holding up the signs outside of city hall last year when bellwether took over, or the protest that happened where that kid got shot."

Vivian looked at both of them oddly as they didn't seem to know what she was talking about.

"Have you two been living under a rock this last year? You _DO_ know a kid got shot like six months ago during the plague incident?"

"Sorry, we've been buried in a lot of cases." Nick admitted, sheepishly scratching his head.

The vixen scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever. PAC has been known to say some inflammatory things about prey animals these last few years, and I wouldn't put it past them to have maybe some more shall we say….extreme members."

"I think we should start there."

"Agreed" replied the duo.

* * *

 _Zootopia…Otterdam…PAC Headquarters_

The Predator Action Committee was a political group that was created when predators felt that to continue to live with the prejudice they faced from prey had reached a tipping point, the group's purpose is to have equal representation, equal pay, equal rights for preds. Obviously each goal they set for themselves was an uphill battle but they approached it in as best a manner as they could.

But in attempting to wage a battle for equality, they reminded themselves not to lose their culture, pred culture. In that light they encouraged the creation of a pred owned and run economy, pred owned businesses, pred owned industry. The idea was that instead of expecting prey animals to give them a place, they would create one for themselves.

It seemed easy on paper however real life is often more complicated than the best laid plans of lions and tigers. Specifically complications in the form of politics and social perception, trying to raise capital for their goals had proven to be harder than expected, given that the very city itself is occupied ninety percent by prey animals. Which unfortunately means the same ratio of capital, most of the banks are run by prey, so in that vein any predator trying to carve opportunity for themselves is tough to say the least.

However PAC and its members still consider fighting the good fight, and to never give up on their fellow mammal, though recent years have made them question a few things.

When the three arrived at their headquarters, which was a rented space in a business park in Otterdam, located a few miles south-east of the city center, there was clearly an air about the place, a sense of apprehension. Clearly the various predators here were aware of current events, but more than that, it was the concern of possible reprisal that was on the forefront of their minds.

Vivian had led them to the front receptionist who was a female jaguar

"Can I help you?" she asked impolitely

"Yes we're here to see Paxton Mobley" replied Vivian.

"So do a lot of people, any reason why you should jump to the head of the line?" she asked

Instead of engaging in a tit-for-tat, Vivian simply brandished her badge, showing it clearly to the receptionist.

"My name is Vivian Carter, FIB and these two are officers of the ZPD, we have some questions for Mr. Mobley."

The jaguar chewing her bubble gum, blew a small bubble and popped it loudly between her teeth.

"mmhmm." She replied unimpressed.

Nonchalant she beeped her intercom, and the sound of a male voice came through the other side.

"Yes, Sarah?" replied the voice.

"I have two cops and FIB agent out here to see you." She replied.

There was silence on the line for a moment

"Fine, send them back." Came the reply.

The receptionist turned back to the three.

"Paxton's office is third on the left." She smiled insincerely.

As the three past the receptionist, she gave each one of them a once over, but she locked gaze with Judy, the two exchanged glances. The jaguar simply huffed and turned back to her computer. They received similar glances as they walked back towards the office, Judy was receiving attention and not in the good way. Glances and downward cast expressions, something that didn't go unnoticed by Nick, he lagged behind slightly to stay close to Judy, but even he was starting to feel the uncomfortable stares.

As they reached the office, they looked inside the open door and seated behind the desk, a panther, black, strong, wearing a suit and tie. The name Paxton Mobley on the nameplate on the desk.

"Come in, come in." he invited.

As the three stepped in, Nick closed the door behind them. After a moment of greetings and salutations, of paw shaking, the general sizing up, one does in the few seconds before the proverbial 'shields go up'

"So…what can I do to assist the fine law enforcement agencies of Zootopia." The panther offered displaying a seemingly sincere, perhaps over sincere smile.

"We're here to ask, if you or any of your staff might have any idea as to the identity of the monument bomber?" asked Vivian

"Why would you think we would know?"

"Since this is a political bombing, clearly, we are checking with anyone that could have possibly come into contact with him."

"And why do you think we might have come into contact?"

"Because out of the many people you DO recruit, I'm sure there are a few 'crazies' you would turn away."

"You're reaching."

"Perhaps, but we have to start somewhere."

Paxton and Vivian were glowering at each other, Paxton not appreciating the implication and Vivian not appreciating the lack of cooperation. The tension seemed thick until cut by the words of the rabbit officer in the room.

"Look, Mr. Mobley, we aren't trying to accuse you of anything, we just want to find this mammal, and we are asking you for help, if you have any information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, we would appreciate it." Said Judy in as sincere and friendly way she could muster.

The panther turned to the rabbit, his face relaxing.

"Ahh Officer Hopps, I knew I recognized you."

"Thank You?"

"Oh no, I should thank you." He said

"Thank me?"

"Oh yes, I want you to know that you've done wonders for recruitment here, better than I ever did."

Judy raised an eyebrow, her ear perked slightly on one side.

"Oh?" she asked confused.

"Your little speech last year and the subsequent effects after it caused the number of predators joining PAC to triple over a six month span."

Paxton reached over to a nearby collection of boxes, and fished out a coffee mug, white porcelain with the words 'P.A.C. Top Recruiter' written on it and placed it on the desk in front of him.

"So I mean it with all sincerity when I say, you earned this 'Officer'." He replied offering the mug to Judy with a patronizing smile on his lips.

Nick stepped forward and had an annoyed almost angry scowl on his face.

"Hey buddy; we came here looking for help with a case, now we were led to believe you could help. Now if you have any information on this, we need it….otherwise…."

"Otherwise what, Officer?..."

"Wilde, Nick Wilde."

"What is it you think you're going to find here? I'm trying to run an honest group here, a group that is trying to actually create true equality in Zootopia, where predators can actually feel comfortable in their own skin. And not worry about offending the sensibilities of….others."

"Hey pal, I hate to tell you, but we had a lion mayor," said Nick.

"Yes, a lion mayor, a lion mayor who took legislation to create equality for predators and misuse it to once again, appease the prey section of the electorate so he could secure reelection." Paxton fired back.

"A lion mayor who used the 'Mammal Inclusion Initiative' a piece of legislation who was championed by yours truly, but of course, Lionheart didn't exactly mention me or PAC when he instituted it."

"Ironic though what happened, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Nick asked

"That the very mammal that benefitted from the MII, was the very mammal who had him removed from office."

"One could even venture to say, that such a thing might have been planned from the very beginning." The panther stated all but accusing.

Judy dropped her jaw in surprise at first and then changed to an expression of disgust.

"Excuse me, the events of the savage case are very clearly documented, it was the manipulation of Dawn Bellwether who orchestrated those events."

"And the truth was revealed, and I went after the real culprit, I got the real criminal, and she's currently sitting in prison."

"I can't believe you would sit there and accuse me of being part of some kind of…..I don't know what. How dare you…" The little rabbit incensed.

"How dare I what…officer?" the panther levied the accusation right back.

"Was it Dawn Bellwether who arrested Lionheart? Was it Dawn Bellwether who went on television and told all of Zootopia that predators were going savage due to biology? Was it Dawn Bellwether, who when the political landscape finally swung back to prey's advantage once again, disappeared right back into the ether from whence you came?"

Judy taken aback was left speechless.

"Three months, Officer Hopps." The panther continued.

"Three months that this city and all of Zootopia were under the impression that predators going savage for seemingly biological reasons."

"Three months, you were nowhere to be found."

"And at the time, who were you? As far as anyone knew you were some unknown prey animal, ZPD's first rabbit officer, who only days after being given that assignment, you politically destroyed the mammal that gave you that opportunity, 'biting the hand that fed you.' And then the morning after that, set about destabilizing the very precarious balance that I and mammals like me have worked so very hard, for many years to accomplish."

"And you wipe it out in three days."

The panther turned to Nick

"Tell me you're not the least bit betrayed by this fact?"

"I don't concern myself with politics" replied Nick.

"Oh yes, please, keep presenting the stereotype of the solitary and lonely fox, who cares nothing for anyone or anything."

"Or are you simply satisfied with the handout you've gotten from the prey." Replied the panther pointing at Nick's badge.

"HEY! I earned this!" corrected Nick

"Really now, and just who was it that sponsored your Academy Application?" retorted the panther casting a glance at Judy and then back to Nick.

Nick sat in silence for a moment

"That's not important." the fox replied.

"Oh yes it is, very much so. You got in because a prey sponsored you, more than that it was the, at the time 'Golden Child' of the ZPD." Paxton firing back, increasing the tension.

"The same golden child who cleared the mayor's office, clearing out all of city hall in fact, which of course forced runoff election, a very corrupt and sordid business"

"To make way for our current and wonderful mayor, Clarence Deveraux." he stated sarcastically.

"Who is also….surprise surprise…..a prey."

"Your partner has very clearly changed the balance of power in this city, and you're telling me she has no idea of what she's done? That's just plain gullibility, sir." the panther finished with a flourish.

"I'm not going to stand here and listen to you bad mouth one of the best cops, one of the best mammals I've ever known, Judy's not some corrupt dirty cop, or whatever else you're trying to paint her as." Nick replied, his hackles bristling.

"Really? Then answer me this." Paxton calmed his tone.

"How is it that you're still a cop anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Nick replied.

"Well almost a year ago, your 'criminal record' came out, and you were subsequently fired. Which is a matter of public record, So how are you even here, wearing that uniform?"

Nick and Judy both stood silent, not knowing how to answer, at least not without revealing secrets.

"Hmmm. So maybe a little corruption." The panther nodded patronizingly.

Vivian finally had heard enough and stepped in.

"Look you ass, I don't really care about all this political intrigue, I like to keep my life simple, I'm just after a criminal who hurt and killed over 150 mammals, predator and prey. And considering he's going the political route, I would think you want him caught too, for everybody's safety."

"And again my vixen, why would we know? You still never answered my question?" the pather replied now frustrated.

"Because this terrorist, whoever he is, clearly has an anti-prey agenda, so….."

"…So you naturally assume that a pro-pred group such as myself, MUST be responsible."

"That's not what I said." She defended.

"No, but you were thinking it." He replied combatively.

"And the three of you were also making another dastardly assumption."

"And what would that be?" replied Nick

"You're assuming it's an _ACTUAL_ predator."

The room went silent for a moment.

"I'll take your silence as acknowledgement." Mobley stated.

"Did you watch the video? I mean really look at it?" he asked.

The three shook their heads.

"We haven't had time." Replied Judy.

"Well we have." replied the panther.

"And I tell you this, in the entire video, we don't see this perpetrator. Not one image. So how do you even KNOW it's a predator?"

"You don't. But you know what you do see?"

"A little candid clip between the two of you." The panther pointed at Nick and Judy.

"Let me show you something."

The panther pulled up a public service ad made by a group called the 'League for the Assurance of Mammal Benevolence'

The clip consisted of a voice over quoting statistics on the predator population, with somber music

 _"It might surprise you that even though the predator population consists of only 10% of the population of Zootopia, they account for one fifth of its crime."_

 _"That in areas of high predator concentrations, the violent crime rates are almost double."_

 _"Incidents of predators suffering mental problems is almost fifty percent higher than prey animals"_

 _"Now with the threat of going savage in the city, we should all be concerned."_

The clip cut to a video recording, it showed Judy and Nick in the police station after the press conference a year and a half ago.

 _"So let me ask you a question? Are you afraid of me? Do you think I might go nuts? You think I might go savage? You think I might try to EAT you!" said Nick baring his claws on video_

 _Judy ran after Nick on the video_

 _"Officer Hopps, were you just threatened by that predator." Said deep voiced beaver_

 _"No he's my friend." She replied_

 _"We can't even trust our own friends." Suggested a rabbit._

The clip ended with white words on a black screen.

 _'Statistics don't lie, learn more at our website.'_ And the displayed web address

The panther looked back at the three and gauged their reaction

"I take it you haven't seen ANY of this before?" asked the panther.

Nick and Judy looked at each other sadly, the fact that a very intimate moment between them has become fodder for the political landscape making them both feel very exposed.

"I uh….had no idea." Replied Nick his jaw slack, his ears drooping.

"Well perhaps instead of busting my chops, you should be busting LAMB's." suggested the panther.

"I still have questions for you." Insisted Vivian.

"No, what you wanted was a lead, and I just gave you one. Whoever put that broadcast of poor taste together also has access to this clip. I'm sorry I couldn't help you more, but I have very important things to attend to. Blake will show you out."

"Hmmph." Vivian huffed.

The panther pressed a page button, and seconds later a grey timber wolf was at the door.

"Yes Paxton?" he inquired enthusiastically

"Mr. Kenney, Would you kindly show these fine enforcers of the law to the door, they have somewhere to be."

"Yes, sir. Come with me please?" said the timberwolf with an honest welcoming smile on his face.

The three were escorted through the office building back to the front, after being kindly given a goodbye by the timberwolf, who seemingly was the friendliest of the mammals they had encountered. They went back to Vivian's car and got in, with Nick and Judy taking the back seat. Vivian started the car and started to make their way towards LAMB's headquarters in Vole Gardens.

They seemed fixated on the words of the panther.

"Nick…"

"Yes, carrots?"

"You don't…. you don't ever think that I wanted you to become a cop just for my benefit, do you?" she asked twiddling her thumbs.

"Carrots, of course not. Don't listen to that cat, he's just trying to rattle you." Nick said rocking his favorite bunny.

"I just….nevermind."

"What's wrong?"

"I…I just…sometimes feel like I forced my dreams on you, like you became a cop just because I asked you to."

"Well, I did." She stated plainly

Judy turned to Nick, with pursed lips and a sad expression in her eyes, seemingly confirming her fear.

"I became a cop because you asked me. Because you believed that I could." He said

"I know….but I'm just saying, I don't want you to think you can't go after whatever your dreams are. That I won't support you in where ever you want to go." Judy replied

"Carrots….I'm right where I want to be." Nick replied warmly giving her a reassuring hug.

The vixen up in the front seat driving cleared her throat loudly, as if to remind the two of her presence.

"You two seem…..close." she commented.

"We've been through a lot." Nick replied.

"It would appear so." She replied.

Nick's ears flattened and he raised an eyebrow at the vixen, who saw this in the rear view mirror.

"Hey, don't mind me, I accept…whatever this is, I don't judge." she stated.

"Just keep in mind we have a bad guy to chase."

"Oh don't worry, I know… In fact, it's forever on my mind." Replied Judy with a twinge of anger in her voice.

Judy's phone chirped signaling a text message, she had been so preoccupied she hadn't thought to check it all morning. She opened her messages and smiled when she saw who it was from

'Kaiden: Hey we heard about the bombing, are u and nick ok?'

'Kaiden: Boss has approved assignment; we will be at the station soon.'

Nick looked over Judy's shoulder trying to make out the messages on the screen.

"Who is it, carrots?" he asked.

"Our two favorite metal mammals." She smiled.

Nick gave his eternal smile back to Judy.

"See, things are already starting to look brighter."

"I hope so." She replied.

* * *

Chapter 3: Bleating the competition

 _Zootopia…Vole Gardens…LAMB HQ_

The League for the Assurance of Mammal Benevolence or LAMB, was a much older and affluent organization then PAC, while PAC formed in recent years due to either predators attaining political power or because the reactionary moves by prey animals had gotten to an intolerable point no one could say. However LAMB on its face represented at least in the beginning, a whole encompassing organization, the original stated goal was to attain equality for all mammals. Yet in recent years they seemed to focus primarily on prey issues.

Now the stated reason for this was due primarily to numbers, there is mathematically more prey and so their issues affect a wider population per capita. But while this has always been true it's only recently in the organization's history that they have changed focus.

As they drove into Vole Gardens the quality of the buildings took a definite upswing. LAMB HQ for example was in a deco style building, with shaped and polished edges made to resemble the old buildings from the 1930's, giving it a sense of old world charm, while the building itself was obviously quite new, in fact some of the concrete still had sharp edges from being poured not that long ago. The building must have been at least five to six stories tall.

The three of them walked into the building, the high grade tile resembled marble and may in fact have been marble from their reckoning. Because of this, the tap of Nick and Vivian's claws on their foot paws made a louder and more noticeable 'tick-tick-tick' sound that normally would be inaudible. The pat of Judy's large rabbit feet could also be heard. The sound itself was not distracting but it was noticeable, normally such a low sound would be subconsciously dismissed out of hand but because of its amplification and the persistence of the echo, suddenly it came to the forefront of their minds and the strange oddness of never noticing it before soon followed.

As they approached a security desk, with an aged sheep security guard sitting at the matching desk. A Ram's head logo on the patch of his sleeve, the words: League for the Assurance of Mammal Benevolence engraved in the white block wall behind him. Its sharp cut features stood out. But what made Nick and Judy look at one another was the Ram's head patch, it seemed very familiar yet they couldn't quite place it, possibly another feeling of Déjà vu, after all they dealt with Wolverine Risk Control agents, perhaps just the look of any security guard was tripping their memories.

"You got an appointment?" muttered the old sheep guard.

"No we do not, but I am Officer Judy Hopps, this is Officer Nick Wilde and Agent Carter of the FIB. We were wondering if we could talk to whoever is in charge around here." Judy asked sweetly and putting on a smile.

"Uh huh. Well let me look that one up." The old sheep muttered.

The old sheep opened his phone book looking for a name and extension. His slow movements reminded Judy of a particular sloth, but not nearly as slow. The old sheep tugged at his chin, muttering to himself. After a minute or two he picked up the phone and dialed a number. It rang several times before the receiver finally clicked.

"Mmm, Hey Ms. Powell, I uh got a couple cops and an agent with the FBI."

"FIB." corrected Vivian

"Yeah, FIB down here, they want to talk to someone in charge."

"Heh, oh yeah, down in the lobby. Right, ok, see you in a sec."

The old sheep clicked down the receiver slowly and carefully and looked back up at the trio.

"It'll be a couple of minutes, you can wait right there." The sheep informed pointing a hoof over at the nearby waiting area behind him.

The trio walked over to the small prepared waiting area, it was a nice looking area rug, with very plush seats and small oak coffee table. They didn't bother to take a seat but they did take notice to how upper class this place was, much different than the business park of PAC headquarters.

A few minutes later the nearby elevator doors opened up and out stepped a female pig, dressed in a pant suit. She walks up offering her hoof to Judy.

"Hello, Officer."

"Hopps, Judy Hopps." She introduced herself

"Oh, _You're_ Judy Hopps, I've read so much about you, yes now I recognize you. Those newspaper pictures don't you justice, hon." Replied the pig.

"Why thank you…I guess. This is Officer Wilde, and Agent Carter with the FIB, and we have a few questions to ask, if we may?" she smiled and then pointed to her companions as she introduced them.

The pig noticed Judy being flanked by two foxes, and smiled uncomfortably.

"Sure…"

"My name is Lisa Powell, assistant director of LAMB." She introduced.

"Can we speak to the director?" asked Judy.

"Oh…well she's very busy. I mean I could check…." She responded flustered.

"I'm sorry madam, but are you uncomfortable?" asked Nick.

"Uh, I'm sorry, yes, it's just that with yesterday's events, we are all a little on edge. I hope you can understand."

"We do, which is why we are here, we are trying to investigate the matter. But I just think we all need to take a deep breath and calm ourselves down." Nick said calmly.

The pig cleared her throat, taking a breath.

"Yes, your right of course, I will have to check, but she has been in meetings all morning with various groups we work with, but I will try to see if I can get her to pull herself away."

"Do you create your own commercials or do you hire out to a third party?" asked Vivian nonchalant.

"Oh, our public service announcements, yes we make them onsite."

"So you have AV equipment, editing studio, that sort of thing?" the arctic fox continued.

"Yes up in our marketing department. Why do you ask?"

"The broadcast last night used a clip that is from one of your PSAs." Replied the white vixen

"Oh dear, really?"

"Yes, we were hoping to talk to your videographer."

"Sure, please follow me."

The Pig had ushered them into the elevator, pressing the floor for the department in question. A short elevator ride later, they came out onto a busy corporate office; the air was filled with the chattering of animals on telephones, the clatter of keyboard keys and the general malaise of an office.

The pig had taken them to their videographers' office; standing in front Judy rapped on the door with her paw.

"Just a second." Came a voice from inside the office.

The sound of an animal stumbling from behind the door and then it opened. A pangolin, wearing glasses, taped at the center, a bit of a bookish type.

"Can I help you?" asked the pangolin speaking in a nasally voice.

"Hi Max, these animals are from the ZPD, they have a few questions for you."

"Sure, sure, come on in" the pangolin offered, motioning with his paws.

The trio walked inside to see the office in a state of disarray, in short an absolute mess.

"Did….you have a break in?" asked Judy.

The pangolin laughed out loud.

"Oh no, no no. It's just been like this, the last guy didn't do a good job. I've been playing catch up ever since."

The trio stepped carefully around the objects on the floor.

"So maybe you can help us, we're looking for a particular clip. And we were told that it filmed by you guys." Stated Nick.

"Um…ok, do you have anything I can search for a name or a date or something?" asked the pangolin.

"Yeah, just pull up all the clips from the press conference about a year and half ago, ya know, the one about the preds going savage thing."

"Oh, yes, most definitely."

As the pangolin searched his files, Nick turned and smirked at Judy and Vivian. After a couple of minutes the search revealed several recordings from that day.

"Here you go, everything that was filmed that day."

Nick scrolled through the folder clicking on a couple of the videos, eventually getting to the bottom but not finding the clip he was looking.

"Uh, Carrots, Snowball…..We got a problem."

Judy and Vivian came around to look over Nick's shoulder.

"It's not here…"

"You sure you checked everything?" asked the vixen.

"Yeah." Replied Nick

"Max?" asked Judy

"This is all we have; well I mean all we have left."

"What do you mean?"

"Well like I said the last guy was messy, In fact other people tell me the guy was aloof with the work, like he was barely doing the job."

"Wait, you've never met him." Asked Nick

"Me…oh no, I got hired only like three or four months ago."

"Wait, so you didn't record…." Concluded Nick

"This stuff? Oh heck no, the other guy did it, he was the one behind the camera."

"When did he leave and why?" Asked Judy

"Oh um, something like six months ago, and why? Well no one here really knows why, he just left; at least that's what people tell me."

"Can you tell me his name?"

"Uh…Jesse…..something."

"Jesse Whitman. Yeah, that sounds right. Anyway, when he left he took a lot of stuff with him, computer files, and things like that."

"And you're saying he left only six months ago?" Judy asked as if putting the details together.

"Yeah."

"Can you excuse us for just a second?" Judy said to Max as she ushered the pair of foxes over to the other side of the office.

The three mammals almost huddle together to discuss as quietly as they can.

"I think I figured it out. This sheep named Jesse, that was one of the sheep that were with Bellwether." Said Judy.

"What do you mean, you're saying you never arrested him?" asked Vivian.

"No, we didn't, and that was something I was always concerned about. People were so obsessed and focused on Belllwether's trial and her conspiracy that they didn't concentrate on getting the rest of the bad guys." Judy replied.

"Wait a second, the ZPD knowingly failed to catch the rest of the perpetrators in this case?" asked Vivian incredulously.

"It's not that simple, Snowball, the whole thing blew up and was political shitstorm." replied Nick

"I told you not to call me snowball, and actually it's very simple, if it comes out that this 'Jesse' or any of Bellwether's fellow conspirators are responsible for this. The ZPD's head is going to roll, namely you two, since you were head investigators on the case." explained Vivian.

"Because, and trust me I know, If and when the public finds out the ZPD failed to finish the job, I guarantee that everybody is going to distance themselves from the case, point fingers and eventually it will roll downhill to you." The vixen finished.

"Look I think we are getting ahead of ourselves here, we're assuming this has anything to do with Bellwether at all. It doesn't make sense." Said Nick.

"What do you mean?" asked Judy.

"Well Bellwether was trying to demonize preds, but this guy is trying to demonize prey, because of the injustice of Bellwether's plan." Replied Nick

"I know, but part of me is saying it's not that simple, that maybe it's fake out, just like the first time, we think it's pred but in reality it's a prey." Shot back Judy.

"Wait second, so you're thinking that Bellwether is somehow exacting some plan from prison?" asked Vivian.

"No, not exactly, it could be…..another group we've dealt with" she replied back to the vixen but shooting a glance at Nick.

Nick seeing this and the insinuation huffed in disbelief.

"No way, no friggin' way, they're dead, I mean 'dead' dead, we watched it happen." Countered Nick.

"I'm sorry what are we talking about here?" asked Vivian confused.

"Another case…" the two of them answered sheepishly.

Just then the door to Max's office opened up and Lisa Powell stuck her head in. The trio turned their heads toward the door.

"Officers? The director will see you now."

The trio looked back at each other nodding in agreement.

"To be continued…" said Vivian putting a pin in the conversation.

They followed the pig to a larger office, who ushered them inside. The office was just as palatial as the rest of the office space. A large desk made of patterned wood and a high polish sat in the middle of the large room. Several other pieces of furniture adorned the office, a couch with coffee table presumably for more informal meetings, and a nearby minibar for several glass flasks filled with various alcohols. The floor, the same white marble they had encountered down in the lobby.

"When I told the director your names, she apparently wanted to meet you immediately."

Judy and Nick glanced at each other with confused looks on their faces, Vivian simply raised an eyebrow.

There was the sound of a figure walking up to the door.

"Please hold my calls, I have a very important meeting." Said a familiar sounding squeaky voice.

As the door opened a small sheep walked in, a poof of wool atop her head. Judy gasped and gripped Nick's forearm so hard it made him wince in pain.

"Ow, carrots."

The small sheep walked up to the three, her blue eyes giving each of them a once over. She offered her hoof to Vivian.

"So are you Officer Wilde, I've heard so much about?"

"Uh, no you want those two." Replied Vivian pointing to her right.

"Oh my apologies."

She side stepped over and offered her hoof to Judy.

"Officer Hopps, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Judy stood shocked unable to move.

"Uh, you don't recognize us?" offered Nick.

"Well of course I do, I've seen your pictures in the papers."

"That's not what I meant."

The sheep took Nick's paw and shook it.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Gillian…Gillian Bellwether."

Judy chuckled nervously. After looking at the sheep for a moment she finally picked up on certain features, namely that the sheep's eyes were blue not green and that she was not wearing glasses.

Judy nervously offered her paw, to which Gillian promptly took and shook enthusiastically.

"Why so nervous, Officer?"

"It's just…I mean, you look…..um never mind."

"Oh it's because of my no good cousin isn't it?"

"Cousin?" Nick replied with a nervous expression.

"Yes, my cousin, Dawn. She did all those horrible things to those predators."

After the sheep had gotten done introducing herself she made her way to her desk.

"Lisa, I will take it from here, thank you."

List simply nodded and left the office, closing the door behind her. The trio spun around to face Gillian, Nick and Judy still a bit nervous that they were in the same room as a Bellwether once again.

"So what can I help you with?" Bellwether asked sweetly.

Vivian stepped forward with no fear.

"We were looking for the source of a clip, it's the same one that a terrorist used and we need to know who has it?"

"And did we have it?"

"No, but we think one of your former employees did, a Jesse Whitman."

"Jesse…Yeah he was terminated."

"Why?"

"Well because I have reason to believe he was involved in something illegal."

"Like the savage conspiracy?" Stated Vivian.

"Maybe, it didn't come to my attention about WHO exactly recommended him until about six months ago."

It was now that Judy and Nick calmed down, with Judy stepping forward.

"So he was working here for a whole year AFTER Dawn was arrested?" Judy asked.

"As I said, I didn't know at the time, Dawn hasn't been with LAMB since she was elected with Lionheart." The sheep replied.

"She used to work here!?" Judy exclaimed.

"She helped _start_ LAMB." Gillian corrected.

"And you're telling me you had no involvement with her schemes?" Judy suggested, practically accusing.

Gillian was taken aback and disgusted by the implication.

"No. And I resent the accusation." Gillian defended.

"She didn't mean anything by it…." Vivian interrupted trying to keep the conversation civil.

"Yes, she did!" Gillian exclaimed squeaking slightly.

Gillian climbed down from her chair and walked over to Judy getting practically nose to nose with her.

"How dare you even suggest that? What Dawn did was…..unforgivable."

"I worked too long and hard to try and build some kind of bridge between Predator and Prey in Zootopia, only to have her destroy it all by abusing her power and launch some kind of plan."

Gillian teared up, her voice breaking.

"I loved my cousin, we grew up together, and we were like sisters. She was a kindest and sweetest ewe you ever met. Even when they said on the news what she did, I refused to believe it."

"I still can't believe she did those things, and I'll never understand why."

Gillian covered her face with her hooves and broke down sobbing. Judy simply stared at her with distrusting eyes; she didn't believe it for a second, while Nick and Vivian seemed to. Nick even came over and patted her on the shoulder.

"Look I'm sorry, we didn't realize that this would bring up painful memories." Apologized Nick.

Gillian collected herself enough to dry her eyes, taking a tissue out of her pocket and wiping them.

"Look, I don't expect you to understand. I know to you she was a criminal and a horrible person, but to me she was family." She said wiping the running mascara off her eyes.

She walked back to her desk and took a deep breath trying to steady her voice, and then she hit the intercom.

"Lisa."

The intercom beeped back.

"Yes Gillian?"

"Can you get the HR folder for Jesse Whitman and make a photocopy for the Officer Hopps."

"Yes, ma'am."

There was a silence for a moment but the intercom was still open.

"…Is everything alright Gillian?"

"Yes, yes, I am fine, just please get the file." She requested.

"Okay." The pig replied and then clicked off the intercom.

Walking back to the trio, Gillian offered her hoof that had Gillian's LAMB business card in it.

"I hope that the file helps you and that you find whoever it is you're looking for. And if there is anything I can do to help, please don't be afraid to call me."

Judy took the card and put it in her pocket.

"Thank you." Judy said trying to muster some false sincerity.

"And for what it's worth Judy, I'm…..I'm sorry for what Dawn put you through."

Judy didn't reply she simply turned and started walking out, she couldn't find the words. Gillian simply cast her eyes down, almost ashamed. Nick saw this exchanged and couldn't help but be saddened by it.

The three left LAMB, with the photocopy of the folder being given to them on their way out, back in the car and on the road, Judy had a look of frustration.

"God, can you believe the nerve." Said Judy frustrated

"What are you talking about, carrots?"

"Oh that display back there. And the fact that you two ate it up." She fired off.

"Carrots." Nick replied a bit hurt.

"Oh come on Nick, you're supposed to be the con man, I can't believe you fell for it." She said incredulously.

"Judy, I've seen a lot of cons in my life and I'm telling you, she was being sincere."

"That just means she's a better actor than her cousin." She replied coldly.

"Officer Hopps, if I may, don't you think that maybe you're letting your anger for one Bellwether, cloud your judgement regarding another." Inquired Vivian.

"You know what Agent Carter, I'm going to ignore that since you weren't there, and I know Bellwether."

"Yes, _DAWN_ Bellwether." The vixen corrected.

Judy was so steeped in her anger she completely missed the fact that she flubbed again.

"Oh shit." She whispered as she put her paw on her face.

Nick suddenly realized what Judy had said and they both looked up toward the rear view, the vixen in front glancing back at them and then towards the road.

First it was silence and then she took a breath

"I already knew."

"Knew what?" asked Nick slightly nervous.

"I knew about your past, the cons, and your jumbo pop hustle, your dismissal from the ZPD and subsequent return to a life of crime."

Nick tightened his lips and looked up as if he was found out.

"I also know about Judy too, small town girl, with big city dreams. Her flagrant disregard for authority and now her apparent anger towards any sheep named, Bellwether."

Judy just scowled at the reflection of the vixen in the rear view.

"I research everyone I work with."

Judy took an audible breath.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Well not to be rude but, unlike you I don't say everything that's on my mind." Replied Vivian.

"Plus I wanted to see what kind of mammals you are."

"And what kind of mammals are we?" asked Nick.

"The kind that keep secrets…even from each other."

Judy just shook her head and stared out the window as they headed back to the station.

* * *

Chapter 4: A Hare-y Situation

 _Zootopia…Savannah Central…Downtown_

As they were nearing the station Judy was reluctant to waste time on this so-called lead, she felt it was a dead end, some piece of bait to distract from the real culprit. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that _this_ Bellwether was involved somehow.

The trio arrived at the station, only to hear the bellow of the chief over the station house chattering.

"Hopps! My Office now!" he exclaimed in a concerned tone.

As the trio went to Bogo's office, they were met by two familiar animals who were standing in front of the chief's door.

The pair smiled at Nick and Judy, to which Judy greeted Kaiden with a hug.

"Hey guys. How have things been?" Kaiden said sweetly.

"Terrible, over one hundred and fifty casualties last I checked." She replied.

"I'm sorry Judy."

As Judy went back to stand by Nick, Kaiden put a paw on each of their shoulders.

"How are you two doing?"

"Honestly….a bit rattled." Replied Nick plainly.

"We're going to catch this guy." Judy replied with conviction.

"Just know that Kit and I are here for you. We won't let anything happen to either of you." Kaiden reassured.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

Kaiden turned to the other mammal that was standing next to them.

"So who do we have here?" asked Kaiden

"Special Agent Vivian Carter, FIB" she replied offering her paw.

Kaiden shook it and then pointed himself and Kit.

"Agent Kaiden Ellison, MIA, and my compatriot here is Kit Ballenger."

When Vivian switched to Kit's paw, they each gave each other a quick once over.

"Never seen an all blonde timberwolf before…" she commented.

"I've never seen an all snow white vixen either, so I guess it's a first for us both" he quipped back.

"I'm an arctic fox, being snow colored is kind of our thing."

"True, but usually there is a hint of grey in the uh….undercoat."

"And how the hell would you know what my undercoat looks like?" she fired back with an annoyed eyebrow raise.

"Just a guess." He replied coolly.

Kaiden interjected at this point.

"As much as I love watching mental tennis matches, we have some business…." He replied pointing both index fingers of his paws at Bogo's door.

The group came into Bogo's office, Nick and Judy standing in front of the buffalo's desk, with the rest of the agents taking comfortable positions around the office.

"You wanted to see us chief?" asked Judy.

"Yes, we got a delivery in the mail this morning."

Judy's ears perked curiously, the chief held up a small yellow-orange envelope; it had a thickness to it which was the result of the bubble wrap packaging on the inside.

"We had the bomb squad run tests three times before we opened it up."

"What did you find?" asked Judy

The cap buffalo reached in and pulled out a clear jewel case with a writable DVD in it, written in black marker "To my student, Judy Hopps."

Judy took a half step back, a feeling of dread upon her.

"Have….have you seen what's on it?" she asked.

"No, we just got it from the bomb squad.

"Whatever is on here, we have got to find something. Because as of right this second, we know nothing."

Judy took a deep breath.

"Just play it."

The chief went over to a nearby small all-in-one flat screen on the table near the other end of the room, he slid the DVD into the attached player and turned it on and pressed Play.

A few seconds of blackness, at first the chief was wondering if the disk was playing, but there was the slight breathing of someone in the audio.

" _Judith Hopps._ " Said the deep voice, it was the same as the one from the message yesterday.

The voice pronounced each word with enunciation and a sense of correctness, often trailing on certain consonant sounds.

" _You may address me…as Teacher, for what follows are lessons, designed to educate you on the real truth of the world. The world that you so naively believe in….is an illusion. Yet you cling to it like a babe to its mother's breast._ "

The black was filled with a small backlight, barely enough to illuminate the screen. A figure walked in front of it. The silhouette that was cast didn't reveal any facial features, but an outline of fur and a feline outline.

" _I wish to read something to you: 'Fear. Treachery. Bloodlust. Thousands of years ago, these forces ruled our world. A world where prey were scared of predators. And predators had an uncontrollable biological desire to maim and maul and kill.'_ "

Judy held her paw up to her mouth, covering it.

" _You're probably wondering where I got these words_."

The sound of the thumb of a paw rapidly spinning through pages of a notebook.

" _It is an interesting play, if I do say so myself. Even at such a tender young age. I have to admire that even then you knew the truth._ " chuckled the figure.

" _But you allowed the shine and veneer of the city to blind you to that truth you knew so long ago._ "

The figure put the notebook up to the camera; the camera's lens was adjusted and focused on the notebook face, the gathering light made the front cover legible

" _The promise of Zootopia by Judy Hopps._ " Written in crayon and some of the letters disjointed.

Judy took a step back, fear now striking at her.

"Oh my god."

Nick turned to Judy in concern

"Judy?"

She turned to him, she was starting to breathe shortly and rapidly.

"He's been in my home….in my room…" she whispered feeling violated.

Almost as if addressing that statement, the video continued.

" _Is the fear gripping you heart? That creep up the spine, the surge of adrenaline? The feeling of being alone in a terrifying place?_ "

" _This is the feeling that all predators endure daily. They live in fear of a world controlled by prey. They live with the uncertainty of what the future will hold. Afraid to look forward or to look back._ "

" _You will understand this before it is done._ "

" _You have learned the first lesson and the second shall be upon you soon. Oh, my dear Judy, we are just beginning you and I._ "

" _So for now live with the uncertainty, of not knowing._ "

" _You don't know who I am….And you will NEVER see me coming…_ "

The message ended, cutting to a standard dvd menu track. The room looked at Judy, she felt like she was under a very uncomfortable magnifying glass.

"Carrots." Nick said breaking the silence.

"Excuse me." She whispered, as she ran out of the office.

"Carrots!" "Judy" "Hopps." said the cacophony of various mammals in the room calling after her.

"Wilde, go after her." Said Bogo.

Nick hesitated for a moment.

"Damn it Nick, go!" reiterated Kaiden.

Nick took off after her, calling for her.

There was silence in the office for a moment, until Kaiden broke it

"OK, well, does anyone want to say it first or should I?"

The room stood silent.

"Ok, well, I think we can all agree this isn't just some run of the mill terrorist trying to make a political statement."

"This is someone, who has a psychotic obsession with Judy."

"Yeah, but it's someone who's willing to injure and even kill other people just to…teach to her." Commented Agent Carter.

"Which is why you two are going to watch out for her." Interjected Bogo.

The two agents looked at Bogo.

"You don't need to tell us twice. She's our friend."

"She's not just _YOUR_ friend." He snapped back.

Bogo took a breath and sighed.

"I know as chief I'm supposed to hold impartiality among ALL my officers."

"But Hopps isn't just a normal officer; she works twice as hard just to get half as far."

"And she doesn't give up or give in."

"She's a good cop, but more over she's a good person."

"And I'll be damned if I'm going to let some fucking psychopath get ahold of her."

"You two _WILL_ look after her, and keep her safe, you understand me?"

The two agents nodded in respect

"I've never known cape buffalos to be sentimental." Commented Kaiden.

Bogo huffed softly

"We normally aren't. But Hopps showed me that I can be more than just a Cape Buffalo." He replied with a warm smile.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Judy ran outside, near the back door of the station. Using her phone to call home to check on her family, worried that something might have happened or that a 'strange' mammal may have paid them a visit. When she got a 'no' to her questions and that everything was alright, it actually worried her more not less. Whoever it was had managed to get into her family warren, her room and make off with her childhood play all without being seen by anyone.

Judy after telling her family that she loved them, hung up the phone putting it back in her pocket. She tried to stifle the panic attack but resisting it only made it worse. Her heart was beating against her chest, scared thoughts were racing through her mind, and she was huffing loudly trying to catch her breath, shifting her weight, her foot tapping nervously and quickly against the ground.

She yelped and jumped nearly a full meter into the air when a voice called her name from behind her. She turned around to see Nick standing there, the worry in his emerald eyes.

"Judy." he whispered.

She hung her head and slowly walked over and leaned it into his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. He could feel her pulse, he could smell her fear, it was the only scent he didn't like from her. He petted her on the back of the head, rubbing the tips of his paws in circles on her fur.

He just held her while she calmed down, quietly crying into his shoulder, a catharsis of emotion more than expression of anything in particular. He didn't have the words to say, but felt that silence was best.

"Thank you." She said, her voice choking slightly from the tears.

"I won't let anything happen to you Judy, I promise."

She looked into his eyes, there was a fire and a determination there, a resolute stance.

"Don't promise that." She said

"Judy. I won't let anything happen." He replied.

Judy's cell phone buzzed, a text from the chief "You need to see this now…"

* * *

Meanwhile…

Chief Bogo was standing in front of the TV screen watching it with the rest, the movement stopped the familiar sounds from before, the static, the attention signal, the one second clips. The color inverted 'Zootopia welcomes you.'

Bogo turned his head to see Judy and Nick come back from the back area of the police station. The broadcast cut to a backlit screen, and a silhouette stepped in front of it, the same one that was on the DVD, its feline features more defined

 _"Greetings….Zootopia." rang out the deep and proper voice._

 _"I hope now that I have your attention."_

 _"Yesterday's lesson was a wakeup call, to wake the complacent population from its slumber."_

 _"Today, we find out how far mammals are willing to go…"_

The broadcast cut to a file photo of a smiling hare in suit.

" _This is District Attorney Raymond Hopper, he has been personally responsible for sending over three hundred and fifty predators this year alone to prison on various charges, on circumstantial evidence alone. Some would say 'that is what makes a great litigator' but when you compare that vicious style with the fact that this same mammal often goes easy on prey who are guilty of more severe crimes, and have more evidence against them._ "

" _Plainly put, Mr. Hopper appears to have a particular prejudice against predators._ "

" _And this grave injustice that will be settled today._ "

 _"And Zootopia will help me._ "

There was a moment of silence as if for dramatic effect. Judy and Nick, who were now standing alongside the others, everyone with a look of confusion, as if to ask the question "Who would help the mammal who just hurt the city?"

The answer came forthwith. The broadcast cut to a city map with 5 dots, spaced around the city.

"oh my god…" someone in the station uttered.

 _"These are the locations, of the five pediatric hospitals in the city."_

 _"I have wired one of them for detonation. Hundreds of sick and injured children will die."_

 _"Unless, someone, anyone, kills Raymond Hopper in the next hour."_

 _"Do this and you will serve a great justice and save the lives of our future generation."_

 _"Or, you can let these poor innocent children die, to save the life of one corrupt mammal."_

 _"The choice is your Zootopia, pray you make the right one."_

The transmission cut back to the 'Zootopia welcomes you' then cut back to regular broadcast.

Bogo immediately turned to his officers and activity jumped into action, the shock and awe did not cause them to freeze this time, they had to move fast to prevent further loss of life.

"I want the bomb squad at every one of those hospitals, find those bombs and disable them now!"

"Frost, get me a protection detail out back in five minutes!"

"Higgins, find the DA and get me a location!"

* * *

The momentum over the next hour was frantic, bomb squads raced to each of the hospitals to check them, Chief Bogo and Frost readied a protection detail to find and secure the district attorney, the buffalo had assigned Judy, Nick, Vivian, Kaiden and Kit to the detail.

DA Hopper was as much surprised by the message as anyone else, but wasted no time in beating a hasty retreat, the detail found him outside his house about to step into his car. Retrieving him into the safety of the armored MRAP, Frost reversed course and made his way back to towards the ZPD.

Judy sat across from the hare and just looked at him staring off into space, not saying anything. Her gaze must have upset him because he fired off at her.

"What are you looking at officer?"

"Nothing." She defended.

"Good, because these are baseless accusations."

"I didn't say anything, sir." She respectfully replied.

"Well I didn't like the way you were looking at me."

"Like what?" asked Nick

"Excuse me?" the hare fired back.

"Looking at you like what?" the fox asked again.

"Never you mind, chom…fox." He snapped.

The other three predators in the MRAP all raised an eyebrow. With Kaiden leaning over and looking the hare square in the eye.

"Erhm, mind repeating that?" asked Kaiden coolly.

"I uh….didn't say anything." The hare quieted down.

"Right." Replied the older fox and straightened back in his seat.

The rabbit scowled at the hare and spoke plainly.

"Look, I don't care what you're being accused of, the fact is your life has been threatened and we are here to protect you."

"…And whatever your personal feelings towards predators might be, just keep in mind that some of the best mammals I know are in this car protecting you right now."

The hare remained silent.

"They deserve your respect." She said leaning forward.

The MRAP went several blocks before they got to an impasse, a traffic jam of cars presumably people trying to get to or away from the hospitals.

"Frost, get us moving again" order Bogo.

"Chief, the road is blocked."

"Drive up onto the sidewalk if you have to, just get us moving." Advised the Buffalo.

"We're almost back to the station, Mr. Hopper." The chief called back to the rear seats.

Frost took the MRAP up onto the sidewalk to steer around the traffic, the width of the vehicle was that it still was hanging off into the street.

As Frost crossed the intersection they were struck. The force of the impact was so hard it rolled the vehicle; its high center of gravity caused it to roll over.

Nobody was sure of what happened, probably an accident, someone tried to jump the intersection like they did, and in a panic, hit them.

"Carrots!" called out Nick in the smoke.

"I'm here." She called back.

Kaiden unbuckled himself and tried to open the door on his side, it wouldn't budge the door was deformed from the impact.

"Kit!" called out Kaiden.

"Huh, wha, what happened?" he asked in a daze.

Kaiden climbed over the ceiling which was now the floor, and over to the door on Vivian's side, he noticed a bleeding gash on her eyebrow, and she was unconscious.

"Vivian! Agent Carter!" he called.

"Frost, Bogo!" he called over his shoulder.

"Get out, secure the DA!" ordered Bogo.

Kaiden tried opening the door, the latch clicked open but it didn't want to swing open. The fox braced himself next to the door and pushed it with his legs. Kaiden grunted as the sound of the servos grinded in his legs as they pressed against the door.

Eventually the door popped open swinging back and banging against the outside.

"Everybody out now!" he ordered.

Nick and Judy piled out taking a look around, Kaiden unbuckled Vivian and grabbed her, handing her to Kit.

"Get her out."

The blonde timberwolf nodded, taking the unconscious fox, while Kaiden retrieved the hare. They both stepped out. Frost had managed to get his door open and climbed out, helping the chief bound over the center console and out the driver's side door.

"Unpaw me dammit." Scowled the Hare, who was no worse for wear.

Kaiden plopped him on the ground unceremoniously.

"My apologies…..sir." replied Kaiden.

Kit had taken Vivian to a nearby curb and placed her down; she stirred and moaned softly, grabbing her cut.

"Ah shit." As the pain struck her.

Kit searched his vest finding a gauze pad, tearing open the packaging and placing it on Vivian's cut, then placing her paw on the pad.

"Press and hold here, it doesn't look bad, and you didn't break any bones."

Vivian opened her eyes, her focused was blurry but she could make out Kit's face, but she could swear his eyes glowed bright blue. By the time she focused his eyes appeared normal, she dismissed it as seeing things.

"How? How do you know?"

"Just trust me." He said with a smile.

Nick and Judy were securing the District Attorney and trying to walk away from the scene but nearby, Kaiden was having an issue of his own along with Frost and Bogo. They had gone to the other side of the MRAP to see what had hit them. It was a garbage truck, and it's occupants a Zebra and a Dingo had rolled the MRAP over and came out brandishing shotguns. Bogo and Frost had trained their dart guns at the pair, Kaiden aiming with his revolver.

"Drop your weapons!" ordered Bogo.

"Now you listen here, Hoss. We don't want to hurt anybody, but you heard what that guy said on the TV. This guy has got to go." Said the Zebra

"Listen to Bogo, you can't just kill him in cold blood." Said Kaiden.

"Now YOU listen Fox, If that Hare don't get killed in a next few minutes, my kid's gonna die!" the Zebra exclaimed.

"We can't let you do that, now BACK OFF." Bogo ordered.

"Now you listen, I don't want to hurt anyone, but I will if you don't get out of the way" said the Dingo charging his shotgun. The Zebra charged his.

"Stand down!" Ordered Bogo.

"Don't make me kill you." Warned Kaiden.

"Get out of the way!" screamed the Zebra.

"Move damn it!" exclaimed the Dingo.

The sound of a gunshot rang out, it was higher pitched as if fired from a smaller gun. Kaiden turned around and saw that an otter had shot the hare in the chest. The hare going dead weight caused him to fall out of Judy and Nick's grasp falling to the ground.

The spray had hit Judy on the left side of her face; dots of bright red blood speckled her fur. Nick had dove and taken down the otter, who looked just as scared as anyone else after firing the fatal shot.

Several minutes later, when paramedics arrived they worked on DA Hopper but pronounced him dead at the scene; the otter was in custody and was taken back to the station for processing.

The paramedics cleaned Judy up but the white and grey of her fur had a distinct red hue on that side of her face.

The top of the hour had arrived and gone, no hospitals blew up, and later it was revealed no bombs were ever found. The agencies concluded it was a ruse from the beginning, but until they knew for certain they would remain vigilant.

Back at the station house Judy went back to her desk to research anything that might mean a lead, mainly though she was tired of reacting and wanted to be proactive. The fact that this 'teacher' was a predator was something she couldn't accept it, there was something telling her that there was more than meets the eye.

She was going through the case list of the now late district attorney Hopper looking for any cases involving predators that stand out. She worked fervently for several hours, while Nick and the rest were reporting into their respective superiors; Nick didn't wait to be asked but simply filled out the reports, did the paperwork and otherwise kept the minutiae away from Judy and her thought process.

Later he had come to her with two cups of coffee putting one on her desk, placing a paw on her shoulder. He didn't say anything, ' _what could he say?'_ he thought. He just wanted to let her know that he was there for her. She knew, she always knew. She turned to look at him, and stared into his emerald eyes.

"Am I crazy?" she asked.

"Always Bun-bun, but that's why I love you."

"I'm serious."

"I'm serious too, it really is one of the reasons I love you." he continued to play

"Nick." She whined a bit

"Sorry. About what?" Nick going back to being serious.

"There is just some part of me that thinks this is more than just a predator striking back."

"Yeah, it is Carrots, it's a predator who's got an unhealthy obsession with you."

"That's not what I mean…"

"You mean Bellwether?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know, Carrots. I mean I don't think even Dawn Bellwether would go so far as to kill _massive_ numbers of people. And Gillian…." He said stroking his chin

"Gillian what?" she replied lining up with his eyes.

"I'm usually a pretty good judge of character, and Gillian doesn't seem like the kind of sheep to do this."

"Maybe not directly, I mean she could be hiring this guy the same way Dawn hired Doug."

"What like ' _terrorism for hire?'_ " He asked gesturing with his paw.

"Yeah."

"I don't know, I don't see a Bellwether within a mile of this. Besides that doesn't explain all the little….obsessive messages he keeps sending you." He said

"Whoever this is, is doing this because of you, and to be honest that is what scares me."

"Scares you?" she replied.

"Yeah, carrots, scares me. If this pred, whoever he is, is willing to do all these horrible things to random strangers, I don't even want to think what he would do if he got his paws on you."

"Nick." She said softly

"I'm not going to let that happen." He concluded.

Judy reached over and hugged Nick.

"I know, I know." She replied

She broke the hug and reached over for her coffee

"Thanks for getting me some." She smiled as she took a sip

As she placed it back down she noticed an envelope on her desk.

"Hmm, I didn't think the department mail got delivered today." She said as she opened it.

She unfurled the folded paper and gasped when she read the first few lines.

"Oh my god." She whispered.

Nick looked over Judy's shoulder read the letter.

 _'To my star pupil…'_

 _'Raymond Hopper's death was necessary to show you my next lesson.'_

 _'That simply the perception of fear and imagination is all that it takes to turn even the most innocent into monsters.'_

 _'You can tell your investigators that there are no bombs, their never were. But simply the statement alone was enough to make people panic in fear.'_

 _'Fear makes monsters of us all, and where in the past prey was concerned over predator's teeth and claws. Today, there are many methods of death that anyone can wield. So in that, we are all on the same level.'_

 _'As far as Raymond Hopper himself, he too was afraid, afraid of being found out, afraid of being found guilty. Of his crimes being laid bare.'_

 _'But he was guilty of something else, even more heinous. He was guilty of the crime of betrayal. Of someone he supported openly for a long time, than betrayed when it was convenient.'_

 _'Docket #543-279, I think you'll find it revealing.'_

 _'Sincerely, Teacher.'_

Without hesitation, Judy typed the case number into the computer and pulled it up. The header was instantly recognized, 'Mammals of Zootopia vs Dawn Bellwether', it was Bellwether's court case, Judy scrolled down through the notes, the police files, many of which she had written, when she got to the actual court documents, a name jumped out at her. She went wide eyed and looked at Nick. He read the same line and looked back with the same expression.

The line read 'People's Representative: District Attorney Raymond Hopper'

"Well carrots, maybe your theory isn't so crazy after all." Commented Nick.

* * *

Chapter 5: Respite

 _Zootopia…. Acorn Heights….Nick and Judy's Apartment._

The pair had arrived home exhausted and a few bruises from the accident already starting to feel sore. The stiffness from the fluid taking residence in the joints, attempting to cushion them. The biology of it would certainly go unnoticed but the practicality of it meant for stiff joints and an expected night of aches and pains. It was something that had both been semi used to, the occasional car chase or foot pursuit not to mention all the physical exertion of working with Bureau 13, one would wonder how Kaiden and Kit do it day in and out for years on end. But then Judy remembered that with their cybernetic parts, simple running and jumping were nothing compared to the feats they usually endured.

But that consolation seemed to be at the edge of her mind as Judy tried to peel off her vest, the stiffness of her shoulder, the same shoulder she dislocated as a child had proven to be especially painful. After placing the file folder she brought with her on the nearby table, she had Nick help her out of her police equipment, her duty belt and vest, placing the equipment in their place by the door. She reached under her shirt and lightly rubbed her shoulder, trying to relax the muscle and tendons. She gasped with gritted teeth at the pain of it, and softly walked over to the couch.

"You want me to get that ointment?" Nick asked, thumbing towards the bathroom though already knowing the answer.

"Mmhmm." came the throaty reply, and a soft nod.

Nick retrieved the lotion bottle and made his way back towards the couch. Judy had already unbuttoned her shirt and it was resting halfway down her back. Her head hanging slightly away from the sore shoulder waiting for the hopeful relief.

Nick sat down next to her and applied a glob of the lotion in his paws.

"It's going to feel cold." He warned.

"I know." She said weakly.

Nick delicately applied the lotion to her shoulder, as the cold icy sensation hit her skin, she gasped from the intensity of it. As Nick rubbed gently, he could feel the stiffness and heat from the overworked muscle, though Judy was complaining of a shoulder injury, from Nick's vantage it seemed the entire shoulder blade and muscle was stiff and rigid. As he used his thumbs and the tips of his fingers to work out the kinks, Judy let out an occasional sigh or moan of relief.

"You ok?" he asked.

"It hurts a little bit, but it still feels good." She replied, bending her neck to and fro.

"It's the old shoulder, isn't it?" he asked

"Yeah." she replied sucking air between her teeth.

"Are _you_ ok?" she asked in return

"I'm good." He replied

"I mean do you ache anywhere?" she clarified.

Nick smiled and let out a small airy chuckle.

"I'm gonna let that one slide because you're hurting." He replied

Judy let out her own soft chuckle.

"You ass." She said with a small smile.

He smiled back at her.

"Just keep rubbing." She said.

"Yes, ma'am" he said playfully.

As the gel starting absorbing and feeling warm, the muscles started to relax, she made a low moan from her throat, she moved her shoulder against itself and it made a deep resounding pop. She cried out in pain as the fluid from inside left the joint, and then heaved a heavy sigh as the feeling of relief replaced the momentary shock of pain.

"Better?" asked Nick

"Yeah, much better." She replied.

She turned around and cuddled with him, putting her head against his chest, feeling his chin between her ears. Nick leaned back on the couch making himself into a living fox pillow for her, and just held her there.

That sat in silence for a while, just listening to the sounds of each other's breathing, picking up on almost subliminal sounds they otherwise would dismiss, such as the slight buzzing sound coming from the kitchen light, the deep hum of their air conditioner, the slight drip from the bathroom sink, the occasional rapping of someone's feet on the floor below them, or the resonating sound of a door closing somewhere.

"Ya know, I never realized how noisy this complex is." Judy commented with her cheek pressed into Nick's chest.

She tilted her head to see if Nick had a sly or humorous answer waiting, but met the vision of a sleeping fox, the soft huff of his exhales as they passed his nose.

'Must have been exhausted.' She thought to herself.

She reached up and lightly petted his cheek, his neck and his chin. She scooted up so she could nuzzle into his neck, giving him a soft kiss, before adjusting herself into a more comfortable position. It must have been Nick's warmth and fur or possibly the ointment, but very suddenly, she felt drowsy, and content, for a moment she felt a slight sting of guilt wondering if she deserved to feel relaxed meanwhile a case was afoot. But her tiredness won over, and in the final moments before the embrace of sleep, she didn't care.

* * *

Several Hours later.

Nick awoke and reached towards his chest expecting to feel a bunny sleeping on his chest. With eyes still closed he patted around looking for the ball of fluff. Upon realizing that she was missing, he shot up and looked around, the shock awaking him fully.

Judy peered from behind her laptop screen and saw the shocked fox sitting up on the couch.

"Are you OK?" she asked

The dazed fox turned his head in search of the voice, and finally turned towards the table. He huffed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, uh, never mind, it was just a dream." He smiled sheepishly.

"The same one?" she added.

"No, different." He replied

"Anyway, what are you working on?" Nick deflected changing the subject.

"I'm reviewing what we have so far. Whoever it is has a bone to pick with prey animals, and is targeting city officials, clearly a political motive."

"Yeah but what about the obsession with you?"

"I still think it's political."

"Why?"

"Well not to toot my own horn, but people see me as a kind of role model or something, I'm definitely a person of note being ZPD's first rabbit cop. So I'm thinking they are after me because of that, but it does have a taste of the personal, almost as if I offended someone."

"Look carrots, I know you got this Bellwether angle, but do you really think she would go so far as to do all of this just to get back at what you did to her cousin?" Nick asked.

"Moreover, let's say she was into the prey supremacist angle like Dawn was, why would she have the district attorney who is…er rather _was_ very anti-pred, killed. If anything he would be a natural ally." Judy replied, still semi lost in her web of thought.

"Except he turned on Dawn." Nick replied

"So why wouldn't she just pick her bone with him, why drag you and the rest of the city into this?" Nick finished.

Judy tapped her chin with her finger, it certainly was a puzzle. Nick looked over her shoulder to see what she was looking at.

"Watching the video too?"

"Yeah, chief gave me a copy of everything." She commented.

"Can you see his face?"

"No, there never is a moment when the light shines on his face."

"It's too bad you can't just use the computer to brighten the image." He suggested.

Judy suddenly had a realization, to which she smiled, then the smile turned to a giddy chuckle, she turned to Nick and looked into his eyes, who looked back at her puzzled.

"You're a genius." She replied with a kiss on his nose.

"What'd I say?"

"I don't have the equipment or the know-how but I know someone who does."

Judy quickly gathered her laptop, DVDs and case file and went to quickly change into some civilian clothes.

"Come on, get out of that uniform." She demanded.

"We going somewhere?" Nick pointed.

"Yeah."

"Carrots, it's like two in the morning."

"I know, he should just be getting off work."

"Who?" Nick inquired with a puzzled expression.

* * *

 _Zootopia…Hyenahurst….An hour later_

The pair had driven to Hyenahurst in Sahara Square, Judy had not let Nick in on the details but he gathered enough that they were going to see someone, a particular someone that she figured could help them with the case. Judy had gotten out and knocked several times on the door, ringing the doorbell, after a few minutes no answer.

"So who are we looking for carrots?" Nick asked almost annoyed

"A friend, someone who could help us." She answered.

"A friend eh? I thought you didn't know anyone in Zootopia other than me?" he joked.

"Well No er yes, I mean, I didn't meet him here, I knew him when I was younger." She explained.

Nick thought about it for a minute.

"It's not an ex…"

"Don't even finish, Wilde." She snapped.

Judy peered into the nearby window, it didn't seem anyone was home.

"Damn, he must not be here." She concluded.

They were alerted when the sound of nearby pawsteps came upon them.

"Can I help you?" asked the mammal addressing Nick.

"Yeah, my partner and I are looking for the person living here."

"Who wants to know?" the figure said with a quirked expression.

Judy came down the stairs and into the street light, the figure looked over at her and smiled.

"Judy? Judy Hopps?" he asked.

"Bobby? Or is it Robert now?" she replied.

"For you? Bobby, always." He answered with a smile.

"Oh my god, how are you?" he asked.

The figure stepped forward and crouched down to get a hug from Judy, the two seemed to know each other, the figure was a Cougar who towered over Judy, tan fur, cream muzzle, darker ear tips, and brown eyes and yet she seemed very comfortable around him. Though Nick hasn't had much experience with Judy's past, it seemed though introductions were in order.

"So?" as if begging the question

Judy finished the hug and stood between them articulating a paw as she introduced them.

"Nick, this is Bobby….Catmull, he was a friend of mine growing up in BunnyBurrow."

"And this is Nick Wilde, partner and boyfriend." She said with a smile.

The Fox and Cougar shook paws.

"Boyfriend you say? Judy….How progressive of you." He replied with a playful tone.

"Well…it took a while for me to get there, but…..I'm really happy."

"Well I'm glad. I never doubted you would get what you wanted Judy, I'm just glad you have someone to share it with." He commented.

I can only imagine how your folks took it. He finished.

Judy chuckled, and smiled nervously.

"Yeah…well anyway, we are working on a case."

"Case of what?"

"A case, a police case."

"Oh? OH!" Bobby going through the motions of realization

"So when you said partner you meant….OH!" he replied pointing at Nick

"Wait….is that allowed?" he remarked puzzled.

"Eh, it's grey area." She replied moving her paws up and down as if they were a scale.

Nick cleared his throat loudly.

"Ahem…The reason why we're here, carrots." Nick said annoyed trying to keep Judy on task.

"Oh…right. Well I remember you being really good with audio-video stuff, and there was something I wanted you to take a look at, that is, if you still do that sort of thing."

Bobby smiled softly.

"You do remember I handled all the stage work for all those high school theatre right?"

"Yeah, but I don't know what you do now."

Bobby chuckled to himself, Judy raised an eyebrow not getting the joke.

"Just come inside, you'll see what I mean."

The three went into Bobby Catmull's apartment, and the understanding became apparent. The large space while furnished had among the décor, several instruments each on their respective stands, a mixing board attached to nearby computers, microphones with stands, and a small handmade booth no larger than a closet with sound proofing on the inside. The place resembled more a recording studio more than a loft apartment.

"Wow." Remarked Judy.

"Yeah, I kind of kept running with it and made a career out of it." Bobby smiled.

"Impressive amount of equipment you have here." Commented Nick.

"Yeah, well I make enough with all the gig work that it keeps me comfortable."

Bobby directed them over to his computer.

"So what is it you want me to look at?"

Judy reached into the file folder and retrieved the DVDs and offered them to the cougar. Bobby took them and ripped them into the computer, putting his over ear headphones on, he watched and listened to the video, and suffers a few reactions as he went through them.

After getting through the last one, he pulls off his earphones and looks at Judy with concern.

"My god Judy."

"I know."

Bobby was visibly flustered, not sure how to react, a freaked out creep up his spine. He huffed a breath audibly through his nose, taking a deep breath.

"What can I do?"

"Is there a way you can mess with the video, I don't know make it brighter somehow, so that we can see the mammal's face?"

"You're talking about some serious computer enhancement, illuminating a face with light that may not have been picked up completely by the camera."

"Can you do it?"

"I don't know, I mean it would take some serious tricks with my equipment."

"Bobby!...Can you do it?"

They sat in locked gaze looking at each other for a moment, until Bobby blinked his eyes, snapping out of his thoughts.

"I'll….I'll do what I can. I can't promise anything." He replied sadly

"It's ok Bobby, whatever you can do, is already helpful."

"Ok."

The two exchanged numbers and gave each other a final hug, as her and Nick walked out.

"I want to thank you for your help Bobby, and please let me know the moment you get a hit."

"I will, I'll get started right away."

"You're a lifesaver."

"Anything for 'Judy on Duty.'" He joked and smiled.

"Judy on Duty?" smiled Nick.

"Oh no…BOBBY!" she whined.

"Sorry." The cougar smiled sheepishly.

* * *

 _Later…Acorn Flats…Nick and Judy's apartment…_

The pair had been conversing in the car the whole way home, the conversation filled the hallway as they walked up to their door.

"How come you never told me you had friends in the city?" asked Nick happily as he opened the door for Judy.

"Well as a general rule I don't" she stated.

"Well you have one friend." He countered.

"Ok, so I know Bobby." She admitted.

"Who else from Bunnyburrow has come here?"

"Does it really matter?"

"Well, I suppose not. I mean, I guess I figured you left everything behind and came here without a friend in the world."

"I did."

"Well, I was just worried is all. I mean had I not come into your life, I figured you'd have been a lonely bun." He commented with a smile.

The pair sat down on the couch, continuing their conversation.

"I was lonely. I mean, sure I knew they were here, but at the time, I didn't think I could relate to them."

"I was so single minded into becoming a cop, I didn't focus on anything else. And even when I got it, it dawned on me very quickly that I had no one to turn to."

Judy leaned over and took Nick's paw.

"That's why I love everything we have together Nick. Because we have it….together."

"Carrots, I…."

Judy put a finger on his lips.

"Let me finish."

"I know you always say that _I_ changed _your_ life, but I want you to know how much _you_ changed _mine_."

"I may have gotten you to see more of yourself, but you have shown me that there is _more_ to life than just work, that it's something to be experienced not just lived in."

"I know that when I'm happy, you're there to be happy with me. I know that when I cry, you're there to cry with me. I've never had that kind of connection with anyone else, even my friends that I grew up with."

"So when I came to Zootopia, I really _was_ alone. I didn't have anyone like I have you. I didn't even know that you _COULD_ have someone like you."

"So when I say that _you_ changed _my_ life, and that _you_ are the most important thing to _me_ , I mean it. I don't want you to ever feel that it's a one way street."

Nick smiled down on Judy, not his usual sly smile but his loving, content smile. With that look in his eyes he only has for her.

"Carrots...Judy." he spoke, his voice starting to waver from the emotion.

Nick was rendered speechless, simply wrapping his arms around Judy as she buried her face into his chest and squeezed him, pushing him on his back.

A few minutes past and Nick looked down at Judy.

"Carrots?"

"Yeah?" she replied contently.

"I need to ask you something."

"Sure what is it?"

"It was something I noticed before and I didn't think anything of it, but it happened again and I gotta ask."

Judy looked up at Nick.

"What is it?"

"I noticed that when Bobby asked you how you parents took to the news of….us, you didn't exactly answer."

"So I'm just going to ask…..Do you parents know about us?"

Judy suddenly looked like she just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar and buried her face back in Nick's chest.

"Carrots?"

A muffled reply came from Nick's chest.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that." He replied

Judy craned her head up.

"Not exactly." She smiled nervously.

Nick was visibly surprised.

"Do they even know we are living together?"

Judy said nothing, just embarrassed.

"Well gee carrots, are you ever going to tell them?" he asked expectantly.

"Even….tually?" she replied sheepishly

"Are you ashamed of me?"

"Yes constantly, but that's not it." She replied deadpan.

Nick's ears lowered in frustration as to so obviously walked into that one.

"Judy, I'm serious…..Is it because I'm a…..fox?"

"No! I mean it's not me, I, eh, just don't know how my parents are going to react."

"They are very….conservative when it comes to change, it took a lot to convince them to let me go and chase my dreams of being a cop. And even now they still worry."

"When I tell them that not only am I in a relationship but that it's NOT a rabbit, I don't know what they will think."

"Aren't they in business with some childhood fox friend of yours?" he asked.

"Gideon Grey, and he wasn't a friend, he's a bully..er rather, WAS a bully, he's changed though. Point is, that's business. That's one thing." She explained.

"This is way different, I mean when they find out that a fox is um…..'with' their daughter…in that way. That this fox may be the future father of their grandchildren, that's something else entirely."

"Are you scared?" Nick asked plainly.

"I'm terrified actually." She admitted.

Nick's ears drooped, and tried to hide the sad expression on his face. Judy petted his cheek and tilted his head back so his eyes looked at her again.

"I'm scared because I want them to accept you, as you are, and I don't want them to force me into some kind of "It's us or them" kind of decision."

"They are the people that supported me my whole life, I love my family…."

"Ah, and between the two. I see….." Nick replied figuring he understood.

"No you don't….Listen to me."

"I love my family with all my heart, but if they forced me to choose, damn them if they did, but if they did, Nick, I would choose you."

"Judy." He replied, feeling touched by the sentiment.

"I know how that sounds, and maybe I'm over reacting, but I don't want to make that choice, because I know I would choose you even though that would mean they would disown me."

"They wouldn't do that? Would they?" Nick asked almost in disbelief.

"I don't know, I mean generally I don't think so, but this is one of those things that, maybe they could, if they reacted strongly enough to it. I've seen my parents overreact to things I thought they were minor before, nothing this serious."

"Judy, I think they're going to be angry because you're quite literally living a secret life. That you're in a relationship they don't know about, that you're living with me, cohabitating and engaging in….relationship things on a serious and regular basis." Nick explained.

"I know…I've really screwed this up and not handled it well…like at all." Judy admitted.

"I think we owe it to them to tell them." He advised, trying to be honest

"Besides, I've heard you talking to them, they seem like nice bunnies, and I think you're not giving them enough credit."

"You think?" she asked looking to him for support.

"Yeah, I think you're just scared and it's ok, I'm scared too." He admitted.

"What are you scared of?" she asked.

"I keep thinking, is this the day everything goes south. The day I finally say or do something that drives you away or even you drive me away. The day I just hate myself because my fears, my damage keeps me from being myself."

"I was broken down before you met me, miserable and lonely. That time with Sid, broke me even more. Let's face it, I've got baggage." Nick explained.

"We've got baggage" Judy corrected.

"Point taken." He replied.

"Do you remember what you said to me, about us being broken?" she inquired.

"Maybe." Nick tried to remember.

"You said, that 'Maybe we're supposed to take those broken pieces and glue them together, so we can be whole….together.'"

"I remember it was something like that." He concluded.

"Yeah, well, I believe it."

"So do I, I mean look at what we've already been through. Age old conspiracies, Drug rings, terrorists, hell we were even dead for a while." Nick said with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess when you put it like that."

"As long as we are together, we can face anything, even some possibly parochial rabbits, a theory which I do not ascribe by the way."

"I thought giving people the benefit of the doubt was my thing?" she asked.

"Well I thought being cynical about life was my thing." he replied rhetorically

"I guess we are rubbing off on each other."

"Mmm, I wouldn't mind that actually." Nick replied a bit suggestively.

"Come here you goof ball." She replied rolling her eyes and giving him a nuzzle.

* * *

Chapter 6: The sound of the other shoe…

 _"This is Fabienne Growley for ZNN, This morning's reaction after the shocking death of District Attorney Raymond Hopper. Mr. Hopper was the target of a terrorist threat after the terrorist now known as simply 'Teacher' according to inside sources at the ZPD, this mammal also claiming responsibility for the Equality Monument bombing just three days ago. Chief Bogo late last night made this statement:"_

–

 _"Firstly, I want to assure the citizens of Zootopia that we have everything under control, that through a combined effort of different law enforcement agencies we are narrowing the gap between us and this terrorist. We have our leads but obviously for security reasons I cannot discuss the particulars at this time. I ask that people be vigilant and report all suspicious activity they may find to the proper authorities. But and I want this very clear, vigilantism will NOT be tolerated, we already have our work cut out for us solving this case, we do not need random violence by Zootopians against other Zootopians. I urge you to stay calm and collected. The fine mammals of the ZPD are doing their jobs to catch this criminal before he or she has a chance to do further damage. Thank you and Good night."_

–

 _"Insiders at the ZPD have managed to reveal that the lead investigator on the case is none other than ZPD's Judy Hopps, who solved the 'Savage Case' last year and had a hand in handling the 'Plague Incident' earlier this year. Protest groups for both the 'Predator Action Committee' also known as PAC and the 'League for the Assurance of Mammal Benevolence' have both issued statements in regards to the death of District Attorney Raymond Hopper. However both groups also plan protests to start sometime today, their locations have not been revealed at this time. More on this story as it develops."_

* * *

 _Zootopia…Downtown …Precinct One…The Next Morning._

Chief Bogo was sitting down in the conference room with Nick, Judy, Vivian Carter, Kaiden and Kit. The buffalo was pacing angrily at the head of the table.

"I told the media that we have some leads, please tell me we have something?"

Vivian sat forward and opened a file, and tried to present a positive light on the data she had gathered.

"Well, we've cross referenced the demolition explosives list with purchasers in the last 30 days, and cross checked those purchasers against our profile data of the terrorist and…"

"And what Agent Carter?" scowled Bogo.

"Unfortunately nothing stood out." she replied.

Bogo craned his head towards the two Bureau 13 agents.

"You?"

"Ok well, we checked against our database of pro-pred slash anti-prey groups, and even dug into our files on the Illuminati, however all that told us was who ISN'T responsible, none of those groups have the capability nor position to be able to do what this individual has done." Replied Kaiden.

"However, we can say for certain, that this seems to be the work of an individual not a group." Added Kit.

"So a single mammal, identity unknown, and we are still no closer to finding out WHO this mammal is then we did before. Not exactly filling me with confidence." Snapped Bogo.

Judy raised her paw, and Bogo turned to acknowledge her.

"This isn't high school Hopps, you don't need to raise your paw. If you got something to say, just say it."

"I have someone who is helping me with the videos of the terrorist; they are working on trying to identify the person in the video as we speak."

"Who is this informant?" asked Bogo.

"Uh, you'll forgive me if I don't say, this person is a friend of mine and I don't want to do anything that might put them in danger."

"What exactly is this 'friend' doing?"

"Well they have expertise in video enhancement uh, so I'm hoping they will be able to make it so that the image on the video can be used to figure out who it is."

"Good idea, did this 'informant' have any ETA on when they would have results."

"Uh…No they didn't, but they have been working round the clock since late last night. I'm hoping they will have something soon."

Bogo huffed and snorted.

"Damn, well it's not much. Hopps you let me know the second your friend has anything. You got me?"

"Yes, sir." Replied Judy

"I don't need to remind any of you that, the mayor and the city are all looking at us for guidance."

"And if that wasn't bad enough, I don't know if you heard the news coming in this morning, but PAC and LAMB are going to protest today, because of the district attorney, just what we need."

"You're not seriously going to take people off the investigation to run security, are you?" asked Nick.

"We have to, Wilde."

"I don't like this, I mean if I was this guy, a protest would be a nice 'juicy' target." Added Nick.

"I agree with Wilde, we have to cancel this, some kind of edict or something." Added Vivian.

"Oh yeah, that will look really good on the news Agent Carter, 'Chief Bogo bans protest citing 'security concerns'" he replied while making quote signs with his hooves.

"But it will be the truth." Vivian fired back.

"It doesn't matter, it will get spun in either case. I could tell them a meteor was dropping on their heads and to get out of the way, they would see it as the 'government' getting involved in their 'freedom of speech'." Explained Bogo

"But we can't just leave them open to attack?" replied Vivian

"Of course not, that's why I _have_ to assign a protection detail." The buffalo admitted in frustration.

"It's a Catch-22, Vivian. The Chief here can't prevent them from protesting without being accused of 'oppression' but he also can't just ignore the situation. Because, if they DO get attacked, then he gets blamed for letting it happen." added Kaiden.

"Exactly." Pointed Bogo.

"Damn." Replied Vivian now understanding the chief's precarious position.

"Oh it gets worse, because I have to assign a protection detail to _BOTH_ groups, lest I get accused of favoritism or callousness." Added Bogo.

"Yep. This definitely complicates things." commented Kaiden.

"Any volunteers?" asked Bogo.

Judy was the first to raise her paw, with Nick reluctantly afterward. The others joined in after various seconds passed.

"Hopps, Wilde. I could use you. Kaiden, Kit, since technically you're not here, keep investigating. Carter, you provide back up."

"You sure about that Bogo?" asked Kaiden.

"Yes, I can't have the investigation grinding to a halt for protest duty. And remember, all of Zootopia is watching this."

"Yes, sir" Judy replied

Kaiden turned to Nick and Judy

"If you need help…" the fox offered.

"I know, I know, I'll call you." Judy finished.

* * *

 _Later…Downtown Zootopia…Water Hole Park._

Nick and Judy were patrolling around the protest groups looking for anything suspicious, Bogo had called in an extra shift of officers to work the protest so as not to hinder the investigation completely, but still he regarded it as a major inconvenience.

Both PAC and LAMB were incensed at different parts of yesterday's events, LAMB was obviously on about the fact that a city official, and a prey no less was shot in cold blood by a predator. Though they neglected to mention said predator was in fact arrested for the crime. PAC on the other hand was focused on the fact that such a thing was prompted by the terrorist and wouldn't have happened had the ZPD captured him.

It was a hairball waiting to happen, the ZPD officers did their best to keep the groups separate, to prevent someone from doing something stupid, sometimes the occasional bottle or rock would be thrown, which would prompt the ZPD response of arresting said mammal.

The furor was at least staying on a simmer, and hopefully other than a few harsh words exchanged by each group would result in nothing major happening. At least that's what Judy hoped as Nick and she rounded the groups for the third time that morning.

She did note that she didn't see Gillian Bellwether or Paxton Mobley at the protest, she huffed 'they're perfectly willing to send their people to these events but not show up themselves.' She thought. 'cowards.'

There was a small scuffle a short distance away as a camera mammal stumbled out of the crowd and fell to ground. Nick and Judy rushed up to him.

"Max!" she called out.

The pangolin dusted himself off and turned to address the rabbit

"Oh, hello miss Judy." He replied with his lisp.

Judy helped Max back up on his feet, he picked up and dusted off his camera.

"Are you ok?" asked Judy.

"Yes, I just got a little too close to some of the PAC members, it's my own fault."

"That doesn't give them the right to touch you." Replied Nick

"True, but I mean I can't blame them for getting in their personal space. I mean I am the 'enemy' I guess."

"No, you're not. And you shouldn't think about it in those terms." Replied Nick

"Can I follow you for a while?" inquired Max.

"Sure, we'll watch out for you." Replied Judy.

Max followed Nick and Judy, getting establishing shots, and filming the protests, but keeping his distance so as not to have a repeat encounter.

The three walked some distance away giving Max a chance to take some pictures of the total event, the mass of predator and prey groups and the low furor of the crowd made for an excellent shot.

Judy also took stock in the size of the crowd, looking towards the entrances and exits, feeling worried that Nick was right, that 'teacher' would use this as a perfect moment to strike. She felt worry for these mammals, she knew they had a right to protest, but to choose to do it right now. It's one of those kinds of perfect storms of stupidity that she feared.

Her foot tapped nervously and with speed, she felt Nick's paw on her shoulder, she turned and looked up at him, he looked down and gave her a comforting smile.

"It's ok, maybe I'm just being paranoid." He offered in comfort.

Judy realized that not only was her foot tapping, but her heart was pounding in her chest and she was panting fast.

"Damn it not again." She muttered as she clutched her chest.

She walked around behind a building to finish having her anxiety attack, Nick followed behind her. She clutched her shoulders and tried to slow her breathing but it was hard. Nick just held her.

"Damn it, damn it damn it." She muttered, mentally kicking herself

"Judy, stop, it's ok." He said trying to comfort her.

Judy placed her head against Nick's chest and just concentrated on calming her breathing.

"I don't know why this keeps happening?" she lamented.

"I didn't used to have this problem; I've never had problems with anxiety."

"Do you know when it started?" asked Nick.

"It started a few weeks after we got back from taking down the council." She replied

"Right around the time I started having the dreams." Nick concluded.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Is it guilt? Do you still feel guilty about what happened to me?" Nick asked

"Nick…I will always feel guilty about that." Judy replied

"Well don't. I don't blame you for what happened. I never did." The fox absolved.

"I know Nick, I blame myself. I will always blame myself."

"But that not what this is. It's this feeling, like something is missing."

"…Like, you forgot something…important?" Nick finished as if thinking the same thing.

"Yeah."

"I feel the same way."

Just talking about it seemed to calm Judy down, she took a couple of deep breaths and let it out with an airy breath slowly.

"I think after this is done, we need to look into what happened to us." Judy spoke softly.

"Agreed." Nick whispered.

The two shared a nuzzle and a small kiss. The small click of a camera behind them, they both turned to the sound. It was Max smiling taking a picture of them.

"It was a very….sweet moment, I couldn't help myself." The pangolin shrugged.

The three chuckled and continued on their patrol. As they swung by a sandwich shop, Nick stopped in front.

"Hey either of you two hungry?"

"I could use something." Said Max.

"I'm not hungry, but I'm thirsty, I could use some water." Replied Judy.

"Sure, thing carrots, ice cold water coming up for my favorite bun." He replied with a smile.

The two went into the shop, while Judy stood outside.

* * *

While Nick and Max were inside, Judy stood near the door to the sandwich shop waiting for them to come back.

There were several protesters going back and forth on the street and sidewalk. Judy was lost in thought when two members of PAC a wolf and a badger happened upon her, at first not noticing who they were running into. It wasn't until they got closer they recognized her.

"Well if it isn't Officer Hopps of the ZPD." stated the wolf.

She was so lost in her thoughts that as she turned into the wolf's stare, she twitched from surprise when she came back to her senses.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't notice you there."

"Oh well my apologies, we should have announced ourselves." He replied with false deference.

"We wouldn't want you to be offended by our presence, do we Roger?" asked the wolf to his compatriot.

"No we do not." Replied the Badger.

"After all, we don't want the young officer here to interpret our actions as anything but 'civilized'."

Judy quirked an eyebrow, and felt very uneasy as to their tone.

"yeah, don't want to come across as 'savage' or anything." Replied the badger.

"Alright, that's enough. I know where you going with this." Judy replied.

"Look I made a mistake back then, and I realized it was wrong."

"Well, la de da, the great Judy Hopps learned from her mistake, I guess that magically makes up for everything preds suffer since then." Replied the wolf with heavy sarcasm

"I used to wonder what changed your mind." The wolf continued

Judy looked at them still with a quirked eyebrow.

"What do you mean you used to wonder?"

"Well I used to ask myself what changed your mind, now I know."

"I saw how you are with that fox partner of yours. And all of a sudden it made sense."

"You and that fox are into some pred-prey stuff." The wolf concluded in a condescending tone.

Judy saw that the wolf was putting two and two together, and then and there decided to be the better mammal and walk away, she wanted to pummel the wolf but in front of these protesters it would be a scandal, she could see it now. "Rabbit Officer Judy Hopps assaults two predators of PAC." She couldn't do that to Bogo, to the city, to herself. As much as she felt like she was giving in, she had to keep her cool.

"You think what you want; I have other duties to attend to." She said cooly as she turned and walked away, feeling proud of herself.

The wolf stormed passed her and spun around.

"I'm not done talking to you, grazer!"

"Yeah, you are." She replied.

"I'm calling you a hypocrite. You go on the news and call preds savage, and then you go off and bed down with one."

Judy hissed in disgust at the description.

"So what was it, curiosity? Some kind of kink or something?"

The wolf leaned down and sneered at Judy.

"Or maybe you like being some fox's 'chew toy'!" he screamed.

Judy could hear the badger laughing at her, as she felt hurt, offended and angry. She was so deep in her anger she didn't see an orange blur fly into the wolf, knocking him to the ground. The badger storming after them. Judy's focus came back to the outside world just in time to see the badger's head twist and the loud crack of a police baton against his muzzle, she saw Nick on top of the wolf slugging him several times in the face.

"God…damn…you…son…of…a…bitch…" each word punctuated by a punch from Nick who muttered his words through gritted teeth.

Nick's fur bristled, his eyes angry and piercing at the wolf, and Judy could have sworn she heard a growl from him. She finally rushed forward to grab Nick's arm.

"No Nick, Stop!" she screamed.

The wolf spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Fuck You, Fluff Lover!" he scowled, twisting his leg and kneeing Nick in the kidney.

Nick winced in pain and let go just enough for the wolf to get leverage to flip Nick onto his back and try to punch him. Nick grunted as the wolf's paw made contact snapping his head against the ground. Judy immediately went for her dart gun to take the shot.

The badger knocked Judy's arm away as the dart shot out and skipped across the ground. She felt as the badger tried to squeeze her in a bear hug. She gasped for breath, but focused on getting her baton off her belt. She coiled her legs beneath hear and pushed as hard as she could against the badger's stomach, pushing herself out of his grip. The badger surprised, looked for the rabbit, felt his knees buckle and sharp pain as he fell to the ground, having been batoned to the back of the knees.

Judy ran as hard as she could and jumped into the wolf, she hit him as hard as she could causing him to stumble to the ground. Standing over him, she instinctively swiped at the wolf's face with her claws and slashed him, even though her claws were dull, the sheer speed and force of the slash was enough to break the skin with a tearing action more than a slicing one. This fact alone is what caught the wolf off guard and he clutched his face.

She rushed over to Nick, and bent down to him.

"Nick! Nick are you ok?" she asked.

"I'm ok."

"Damn it, Nick, why did you do that?" she asked, in both anger and sadness at the same time.

"Because I'm not letting anyone talk to you like that." He replied with a small loving smile.

She smirked as she pet his cheek.

The entire fight was over in seconds, and Judy and Nick's situational awareness finally started to include the rest of the world, she saw officers rushing towards them, and the crowd around them many paws and limbs with smartphones pointed at them, and dozens of electric eyes recording.

They looked back at each other, both realizing the same thing, but Nick finally commented.

"We're….in deep shit….aren't we." He panted.

* * *

 _Later…Precinct One_

Bogo was pacing around in his office trying to decide what to do, Judy and Nick stood before him, and the bruise on Nick's eye was starting to swell along with the accompanying pain. The buffalo was incensed, shaking his head and wringing his hooves.

"Now you've done it Wilde, Just what I need. A brawl between my officers and members of a protest group, do you have any idea how that is going to look?"

"Those predators were threatening Judy, sir."

"Really? You're absolutely sure about that? Because according to the video, they didn't verbally threaten or touch her, in fact from the video they look as if they made a point not to."

"Who are you going to believe sir, me or one video?"

Bogo scoffed.

"It's not one video Wilde. It's several dozen, filmed from pretty much every angle." The buffalo replied.

Bogo turned his computer monitor to show Furtube videos posted of the event, a huge list of the same events from all the smartphones in the crowd.

"Didn't I tell you that all of Zootopia would be watching this event?"

"Yes, sir but, you can't expect me to just stand there while some preds accosted Judy."

The buffalo narrowed his eyes and closed in on Nick.

"Did it ever occur to you, either of you, that this little scuffle is exactly the kind of thing they wanted?"

"Sir?" Judy asked puzzled.

"I had Paxton Mobley on the phone, accusing that the ZPD has moved from a Neutral to a Pro-Prey stance, because and as he puts it "Two ZPD officers assaulted two members of his organization.""

"That's a lie!" defended Nick.

"No, it's his interpretation, and unfortunately according to the video, he might _actually_ have a case."

"How'd you figure chief?" Nick fired back.

"Because you threw the first punch." The buffalo replied.

Bogo picked a random video off the furtube list and played it, then played another, then a third. Each one from different angles, every single one starting with Nick coming out of the shop and punching the wolf.

"This was EXACTLY the worst thing that could have happened right now. And I wouldn't have put it past PAC to have picked this fight just so they could use it for political points."

"Oh my god, chief. I didn't…..I didn't think––" Realized Nick.

"No you didn't think, at all." The Chief concluded.

There was a silence for a moment as the chief collected his thoughts. The chief had something on his mind and was unsure of how to broach the subject. Never usually being one for mincing words but in this case, it seemed as though his personal feelings were in conflict with his duty. He finally mulled over what he wanted to say, and figured being straightforward was the way to go.

"Look…I know that you are two are…in a relationship." The buffalo admitted.

Judy and Nick just stood silent.

"I had no problem with it, so long as it didn't interfere with your jobs. I know that there are fraternization rules but I also know that you can't regulate the mammal heart. So I figured as long as my officers don't let it get in the way, I'm fine with it."

"Today….it got in the way."

"I have to suspend you."

Nick was shocked, Judy dropped her jaw.

"Chief…" Judy addressed.

"Don't even start….. Just be glad I was able to make the case with the mayor and not have to fire him."

"The problem is personal feelings aside, I have to act. I have to show the people of this city that I'm impartial."

"Even if it means throwing your own under the bus!" commented Nick.

"Nick, stop it." Judy said.

"Well what am I supposed to think Judy? What was I supposed to do, just let him sit there and get away with it?" Nick asked

"Yes. We're supposed to be better than that." She replied.

"Well maybe I'm not, maybe I'm just a dumb fox who isn't so good, who's going to stand there and let some scum bag piece of shit, rag on someone I care about, trying to make her feel bad for what she feels. Trying to make it sound cheap and tawdry." Nick explained

"Nick–"

"No Judy, I'm not going to let anyone touch what we have."

Nick turned to Bogo with a scowl.

"And you look me in the eyes and tell me you wouldn't have done the exact same thing? Honestly?"

Bogo heaved a sigh.

"I supposed not." He admitted plainly.

"Fine, you want me to admit that I agree with you. I _AGREE_ with you. But ZPD Officers can't just assault people because they call you names, as much as they might deserve it." Bogo replied.

He heaved another sigh.

"Fine, you're suspended in so far as official policy, but I'm not going to take your badge and gun. But do me a favor and make yourself scarce for a while, at least until things blow over. That's the limit of what I can do."

"Thanks chief, I'm sorry for this." Nick dropping his head in shame.

Nick turned and left out of Bogo's office and Judy followed. As the door of Bogo's office swung shut leaving him alone, he shook his head and pounded his hoof against the desk with a rattling sound.

"Damn."

Bogo had skirted the line between his duty and his feelings, bent the rules in favor of his two officers, and was even seriously considering breaking the rules. He saw such things a serious breach in his personal ethics, and though he felt horrible, but he also felt horrible if he actually had to come down on Wilde for doing what he felt he was right for. It was a catch-22, and he had to deal with it.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

As Nick was getting to his car, Judy chased after him and stopped him.

"Nick! Please stop." As she grabbed the keys from his paw.

"What?" he said as his voice was breaking.

He turned around to face Judy, trying to maintain his composure, and having a tough time at it, the corners of his eyes already welling up with tears.

"Nick, listen to me." She held him, holding a paw on his chest.

"What we have Nick, nobody can touch."

Nick sniffled.

"I know." His voice still ragged.

"We faced death together, we died together, and we came back together. There isn't anything that will tear us apart."

"I know, it's just I was just…so angry. I couldn't let him talk to you that way."

"You were defending my honor." She replied proudly with a smile.

"I guess I was, wasn't I" he smiled through his tears.

"And of course, that's pure Nicholas Wilde, brave, loyal, helpful, and trustworthy." Still smiling at him proudly.

Nick couldn't help but smile back at those words.

"Even though it got us in trouble….Thank you." She said, leaning up to give him a kiss.

* * *

Chapter 7: The cat's in the bag…

 _Several Days later…Precinct One_

The suspension was tougher on him then on her. Nick didn't like feeling useless though he knew if he tried to force the issue he might make things worse, like a child being forced to take his medicine. He tolerated it for Judy's sake.

His actions had spilled over onto the news, the chief was right, PAC and LAMB jumped on the potential fodder and were using it for their own respective ends. PAC had decried the "assault" as an accusation of police brutality and being in a pro-prey position, there was even an outside fringe accusing Hopps of being the orchestrator of these events from the very beginning. The coincidental aspects of their evidence did give people pause and momentary wonder. And that is all that it takes to create the worst thing imaginable in this kind of situation. Doubt. Even if it's a small remote possibility, creating a sense of doubt is all that it takes to harsh the solidarity that Zootopia was feeling. The unity of everyone focusing on the terrorist was now devolving into a 'he said, she said' of the events of the protests, focus was being lost and fingers were being pointed.

Even LAMB was not above reproach, given the fact they weren't involved they felt it was their place to judge the situation, and judge they did. They accused the predators of the Predator Action Committee as having no respect for the badge, that their desire to buck authority extended far enough that they would be willing to assault police officers on the street. The fact that one of the 'victims' of this 'savage' assault was none other than Judy Hopps, and remarked that it was no coincidence that they 'chose' her. She had always been a bit of a symbol of prey but more over of mammals who are willing to go beyond their expected roles by society.

Judy's opinion of all of this was that both groups were using Nick and her to push their messages. She felt neither a perpetrator nor victim, it was a fight, made by two ignorant predators, whose anger probably wasn't even as a result of them.

'Who knows?' she wondered.

'Maybe they lost their job, or their significant others left them.' She pondered.

'One of a thousand different things that had NOTHING to do with her or Nick.'

'But does the media or even their own group bother to ask?'

'Hell no.' she concluded.

'Because a wolf losing his job, or a badger going through heart break, doesn't make headlines.'

'It's not news worthy, it doesn't get page views or readership or viewers…'

'It's just a sad fact of life.'

'Maybe they did have a problem with a fox and a rabbit.' She thought as an aside.

'It doesn't matter…we lost control of the situation, regardless of anything, that was our fault…No, it's MY fault.' She reminded herself.

The end result ultimately proved the same, and also self-defeating, this had nothing to do with the case or rather didn't further said case other than to inflame an already tense situation, the chief didn't exactly object to when she decided to make herself scarce that morning. Dutifully going over the case file again, and waiting for some kind of break.

When she heard the chirp of her phone's text message almost on cue, she wondered how long Nick probably told himself to wait before finally saying something.

' _Everything ok, fluff?_ ' read the message

She tapped out a response, the phone's haptic feedback making soft clatter sounds mimicking that of a keyboard.

' _Everything ok, chief is still in meeting, I think he's trying to smooth over roughed fur._ ' She replied.

She noticed the three dots lingering, as Nick was typing, then they disappeared for a moment, then a response came.

' _I'm sorry._ '

She wondered what he WAS going to say, she knew that sometimes Nick would type a heady response but then abandon it in favor of something simpler.

' _Nothing to apologize for, I know why you did it._ '

' _I know, but it still sucks, it makes things harder on you._ '

' _I'm still sorry._ '

Judy smiled to herself and felt a warm feeling in her heart. She replied back with the emotes of an eye, a heart and the letter 'U', and sent it to Nick. After a few moments she got a reply back with the same except the number '2' added to the end of it.

' _Seriously though, how is the case? Any breaks?_ ' asked Nick.

' _Still waiting for Bobby, he said he would have something._ ' She replied.

' _Wasn't that last night?_ '

' _He said he was close? So maybe? *sigh*_ '

Judy's phone rang with a familiar number "Bobby Catmull", she quickly answered it with excitement.

"Bobby?" she spoke into the phone.

"Hey Judy."

"Please tell me you have something." She pleaded

"I do, it took a bit of some inventive work, but I got a face." He replied back

"Yes!" she exclaimed

"Quickly send it to the email I gave you."

"Already sent, check your inbox."

Judy frantically checked her inbox for Bobby's email, and quickly opened the attachment; it contained several stills from the video showing the image of a feline, a black panther.

"Oh my god." Her face a combination of amazement and horror.

"What?" asked Bobby

"That's Paxton Mobley."

"Who?"

"The leader of PAC. Look I'll explain later. Bobby, you're a lifesaver."

"Anytime Judy."

Judy hung up the phone and texted Nick

'Bobby just called, we got him.'

She got up from her desk and quickly ran towards Bogo's office.

"Chief! Chief!" she shouted as she busted in the door.

"What is it Hopps?"

"We got him, we know who it is."

The buffalo went wide eyed with interest.

* * *

 _Later…Otterdam…PAC Headquarters_

The serene and peaceful quiet of Otterdam was shattered when a plethora of ZPD, FIB and MIA vehicles burst onto the scene. After Hopp's photo from her contact was looked at by Chief Bogo, and the head of the task force as valid Intel, the judge at the courthouse signed the warrant and gave the go ahead for the raid.

Within a half hour of that warrant being issued, armor cladded ZPD officers burst onto the scene and conducted the raid, arresting Paxton Mobley as well as taking into custody everyone who was in that office as a person of interest.

Judy finally had a face to face with Paxton in the interrogation room an hour later. The panther was brought in and cuffed to the table, and she came on with a deep scowl on her face.

"You have no idea how many nights I have been wracking my brain as to who you were." She started.

"I just want to know, was this really political or personal?" she asked.

"As I told your arresting officers, I have no idea what you're talking about." the panther replied.

"The jig is up Paxton, we got your face on video." Judy replied throwing down the enhanced photos.

"That…is not me." The panther stated.

"Do you know how many times I hear that?"

"But this time it's the truth." he replied.

"Do you know how many times I hear _that_ too?" she said with slick condescension.

"Well since you seem to have all the answers officer, why don't you run it down. Why am I the guilty one, because I'm a predator?" he surmised.

"Oh no, no, you're not roping me into that." She countered

"But I do have a very good motive, that's based not only on your specism but your own ambitions." She explained.

"I'm amazed I didn't see it before, I guess I was too hung up on all the personal quirks but maybe that's what you were banking on."

"That I would be rattled by the personal threats and hoping that would keep from seeing the more obvious truth."

"And what would that be officer?" Paxton asked.

"Revenge. Plain and simple revenge." She answered back.

"See I remember what you said when we first interviewed you, the Mammal Inclusion Initiative, you said it was a piece of legislation that you helped write, and you didn't much appreciate it when it was used to help prey, when you saw it as something for predators."

"And then that very prey, who was helped by your law, turned around and put Mayor Lionheart in jail."

"And Lionheart was the first predator mayor of Zootopia, which it was a huge achievement given that the city is mostly 90% prey, a predator and a lion no less, convinced prey animals to vote for him."

"And then I have him arrested for his involvement in the savage case."

"That's a lot of reason to hate me, and prey in general."

"Tell me I'm wrong." She concluded, slapping the table with her paw.

There was a silence with the panther as he mulled over his response, after realizing the logic of the thought process, he huffed a chuckle in amusement.

"You're absolutely right Officer Hopps."

"I DO have every reason to hate you. I in fact DO hate you. You are what's wrong Zootopia."

"Your smug self-righteousness and sense of superiority makes me sick to my stomach, the fact that a 'grazer' like you holds so much authority over predators is absolutely unjust."

"That in a so-called civilized society all prey have to do to take away predators political power and ability to self-govern their own lives is lie on their backs and spread their legs."

Judy maintained her scowl, but inside was deeply offended and disgusted by the statement.

"I didn't say it to offend your sensibilities." The panther replied almost as if reading her thoughts.

"I said it because it's a fact, Prey animals ability to breed prodigiously is what gives them the ability to maintain control. In the past, it was required because predators hunted prey, killed them on a regular basis, the 9 to 1 ratio was that way because they needed to be able to reproduce that much just to maintain the population."

"But in today's day in age, there isn't any reason for it, A rabbit such yourself can have hundreds of children and with the advent of the modern age, everyone of those children lives a full life without fear of being killed by a predator or even opportunistic disease."

"So why is it still customary for rabbits to be allowed to breed as they do? Or other prey? And predators, well, we are relegated to the status of second class citizen in our own city. From a pure standpoint of mathematics, predators cannot keep up with _that_ kind of population growth of prey, and when ninety percent of the population controls everything, then what hope do we have?" he explained.

"So that's why you bombed the equality monument." She concluded

"I didn't bomb anything, Officer and neither did my people." He defended.

"We'll find the evidence." She smirked

"Rather, you'll plant the evidence, when you realize there isn't any to find." The panther accused.

"So you deny that you are 'teacher'?" She surmised.

"Yes."

"But your rhetoric sounds just like him."

"Oh I didn't say I disagreed with it."

"So you do agree with it."

"You bet your bunny ass I do. Whoever he is, he's at least fighting back."

"He's killing innocent people." she replied.

"At the equality monument, yes you're right, I disagreed with that part. Random violence doesn't solve anything But Raymond Hopper was a prey supremacist, and I don't shed any tears for him."

"Or do you also forget that a lot of the city officials who were complicit with Dawn Bellwether, are still where they are. They've never been arrested, questioned or even accused."

"Do you even realize that, Officer? That you're working so hard to catch a predator yet at the same time defending a system that knowingly is corrupt and working to marginalize and segregate predators from the rest of society."

"A system, I might add if it had its way, would ban your choice in relationship." Paxton pointed.

Judy's stoic expression seemed to crumble when the panther fired back with that. Her smirk drained away and all of a sudden felt the tables turn.

"Oh yes, I know about you and your fox boyfriend, I think all of Zootopia knows about it now." Paxton lectured.

"Now realize this, if for some reason, prey animals got it into their collective heads to say, ban such relationships, create a law making marriage or even simple association illegal, there wouldn't be a damn thing you could do about it, Unjust as it is, there wouldn't be anything you could do. You'd be out voted, and all of a sudden, your freedom diminishes little by little, the very people whom you defend, suddenly turn on you. How would that feel Judy?"

"My relationship is no one's business but my own."

"Oh…you are so very wrong. You're a public figure now, been in the news, made waves, your life is a matter public opinion, it's been that way since you became a cop, since Mayor Lionheart decided to make you the ZPD's golden child, and moreover since the controversy during the 'savage case'."

"I think that alone cemented you into the hearts and minds of Zootopians everywhere."

"So I take it you're not going to confess?" She inquired already expecting a 'no'.

"I have nothing to confess to, but you know what, go ahead and try and hang it on me. And when it blows up in your face, pun intended, I will not only get the satisfaction of seeing you apologize to me in public, but I will also get the satisfaction that I gave you enough rope to hang yourself with. And I will see you destroyed in the eyes of the public."

"So go ahead…Do your worst." He challenged.

Judy maintained the stare down for a moment longer, gauging him, trying to figure out what he was thinking but more over not wanting to show fear to the likes of him. She grabbed her small stack of photos

"You don't want to tell me, that's fine. But just remember, when I come back I won't nearly be as nice, I gave you a chance to come clean."

Paxton sighed loudly.

"The good cop, bad cop routine? You do realize that requires TWO animals, right?"

"It's not a joke Paxton." She replied.

"I'm not laughing, Hopps. You are so convinced that I'm the bad guy, yet you don't want to see."

"See what?"

Paxton readjusted himself, leaning closer to Hopps and talking lower almost a whisper so as not to have his voice carry.

"When I said what I said about laws against your 'relationship', I wasn't framing that as a hypothetical. You want to really know how close we came to having some kind of dystopic hellish version of Zootopia?"

"Look into Dawn Bellwether, look into what she was up to, what she wanted. I guarantee what you find, will curl those pretty little toes of yours."

"And how do you expect me to find out?"

"Well, Gillian is her family, moreover Dawn helped found LAMB, I'm sure the files are in there somewhere."

"And how am I supposed to get these files?"

"Well, I'm sure you and your fox have ways, the same ways you used on Lionheart and Bellwether." Paxton replied back with a smile.

Judy understood the insinuation completely. She didn't acknowledge it; she just walked out, closing the door behind her.

* * *

 _Outside in the Main Precinct Floor._

Judy had walked towards her desk with the intention of gathering her wits before heading back in to interrogate Paxton again, that nagging feeling at her that her original suspicions, even if they were from a case of preconceived notions may have had merit. But what Paxton suggested, goes well beyond the legal authority that she had, at least not without a warrant, and even then, what does she put before the judge?

'Gee sir, I want to search for supposed files illustrating that our former mayor had even more horrible plans in store based on the account of as of yet suspect in a major terror attack.'

'Yeah, that would go over _REAL_ well' she pondered.

Her perception was jerked back into the outside word when she heard the familiar bellow of a water buffalo.

"Hopps!" called out the chief.

She craned her head upward and saw his hoof pointing to the office.

'What now?' she thought annoyed.

Moments later up in the conference room, it was there again, another transmission, another 'lesson' on the TV. The introduction and theatrics all saying the same thing as before "Fear" The uneasy feeling settling in Judy's stomach as she came to a grim realization, Paxton _really_ wasn't who they were looking for. Chief Bogo, Agent Carter, Kaiden and Kit were watching, their focus all on the television. Her thoughts came to an abrupt stop as she heard that all too familiar voice.

 _"Hello…Judy."_

He was addressing her directly this time, not the city.

 _"It seems you came very close, you followed the clues, and even did a few things I had not expected."_

 _"Antagonizing the members of PAC. I'm….impressed. I didn't think you had it in you."_

 _A short clip of the fight played out, stopping for effect, like so much drama on television._

 _"We have rules in our society. Rules, regulations, laws. We follow them because it's expected of us."_

 _"We try to make our lives orderly and neat. And we expect the system to be there for us when we need it."_

 _"The truth is so much more horrendous than we like to realize."_

 _"We place faith in those to protect us, when they are the ones who often take advantage…"_

Several pictures of public officials appear on the screen with names, a Ram named Andrew Maddox, Zebra named Paul David and an Antelope named Tamara West dressed in suits, they were publicity photos that one could find on the Zootopia city website but one stood out in particular, a Moose dressed in a black robe of a judge with the name Jeffrey Evans.

 _"There are many of you who do not know who these individuals are, yet they help guide your life nonetheless."_

 _"Those keenly aware of the injustice these mammals bring comes as no surprise but dearest Judy, you should know that these mammals have earned the apathy and contempt they have brought upon themselves."_

 _"I leave it to you to discover the depths of their crimes."_

The image on the TV changed to a live camera feed pointed at the courthouse across the square from the police precinct.

 _"Justice is blind and fair, and what these mammals have wrought have decayed her house, allowing cruelty, and injustice to reign in her stead."_

 _"What I do….is balances the scales…."_

The resounding blast from the courthouse shot glass in all directions; the force of the blast was enough to rattle the windows of the precinct. However the blast itself did not demolish the building but only blew out a single corner of a single floor. Though immediately other areas caught fire, this blast was highly controlled; the tempo of it was not the hammer of the equality monument but the scalpel of a more surgical strike. This fact alone resonated with Judy.

 _"In truth, there is no justice, except what we make for ourselves."_

The room took a collective breath as the "Zootopia welcomes you" logo appeared on the screen, but the room took a sharp turn as 'teacher' resumed speaking.

 _"Judy…I hope you're learning these lessons well."_

 _"Your final exam is soon. And we will all learn what kind of mammal you are."_

 _"Class is almost out of session, and one more lesson remains."_

 _"So I advise you get your affairs in order, say what you need to say."_

 _"Because not the ZPD, your friends or even your two metal attack dogs can save you…."_

Kaiden and Kit glanced at each other, then at Judy perplexed.

 _"I'll see you soon Judy."_

The transmission cut to black, leaving an eerie silence, once again this teacher has somehow managed to cut through the stoicism and strike right at the heart of those he affects. Even Kaiden and Kit, experienced at they are in the arts of war felt a creep up their spines.

Chief Bogo didn't know what to feel, anger, rage, concern, bewilderment, maybe all of the above. He couldn't quantify what he was feeling. The emotion couldn't be labeled and placed in a cubby hole, it was a spectrum of emotion, mainly though, concern for those who have been harmed, for those who are dead but yet he found his thoughts focusing on the rabbit officer under his command.

He picked up the phone and dialed the FDZ and let them know of the bombing, if they hadn't already. More city officials assassinated, entire sections of the Zootopian government were being carved out from under them.

The city needed answers, but moreover, the city needed this to be over. Perhaps the only person in the room who wasn't overwhelmed by some level of fear was the one mammal who perhaps had most reason to be afraid. Judy was angry, a fire burned in her eyes, determination, she needed to see this done, once and for all. She decided then and there that no matter where this leads she would see it done.

* * *

 _Later…That Evening…Nick and Judy's apartment._

After the response and cleanup of the courthouse, Judy arrived home, she didn't even make it a step in the door when Nick hugged her. The russet blur just surrounded her, no words were said, she could hear his breathing, worried, scared, though he wouldn't let on. She returned the hug, tired as she was, sore as she was from moving debris and bodies.

"Nick?"

"Yeah carrots."

"I need to ask you a favor."

Judy broke the hug and led Nick back inside, closing the door, she lead him over to the table and sat down.

"What is it?" he asked

Judy lowered her voice to a whisper not wanting her voice to carry.

"I need to get inside LAMB headquarters."

Nick puzzled quirked an eyebrow, leaning in close to Judy.

"Why would you need to do that?" he spoke softly.

"Because, I'm now convinced that I was right all along. That a prey is responsible for all of this."

"But carrots, didn't we figure out that…"

"No…You and everyone else figured you had it from the beginning, but I didn't stand up for my idea, and I should have."

"The truth is, I wasn't sure but more importantly I didn't want to contradict my friends…or you. Especially if I wasn't sure." She replied looking down

"Carrots…it's ok, if I'm wrong…I'm wrong, I'm not going to hold it against you."

"But that's the thing, I wasn't sure."

"Now you are?"

"Yes, someone at LAMB is responsible."

"You think Bellwether?"

"Maybe, or at least someone who was connected to Dawn."

"Why do you say that?"

Judy placed a folder she had been carrying on the table.

"Look." She offered, pushing the folder in front of Nick.

Nick took the folder, opening it; it had the cases that the city officials at the courthouse were working on. Judy had highlighted several key bullet points. Nick read them but still wasn't putting it together.

"What's the subtext here?"

"There were cases dismissed by these mammals, Evans was the judge presiding over these cases, the District Attorney was either Raymond Hopper or Andrew Maddox, the lawyers assigned for the defense were either Paul David or Tamara West." She explained

"They were all cases where the prey animals who had killed the predator claimed that they were 'savage' and killed in self-defense."

"Now I went through the autopsy results of those cases, the predators didn't show any Nighthowlers in their blood."

"They were murdered…" Nick concluded.

"And they use the 'savage' label as way to cover for it."

"So what's the connection to LAMB?"

"Several of the prey that were acquitted…card carrying members of LAMB."

"Oh my god."

"I thought this was a predator trying to get revenge, when it's a prey trying to cover it up."

"So where do I come in."

"I need to get into LAMB, and I need your 'special' talents."

Nick's head popped back in surprise, his confused expression as he tried to discern exactly Judy's meaning.

"You want to….break in?" he said matter of factly.

"Yes."

Nick took a breath, covering his mouth with his paw.

"Judy, You do realize if we get caught…."

"…I know, our careers are over and we go to jail." She finished.

"Oh I think it's more than that. We get caught they will crucify us. I wouldn't be surprised if we get brought up on espionage charges. We're not just breaking into a place and stealing some stuff, we are 'infiltrating a political organization's headquarters for the express purposes of proving criminal impropriety in the government.'" He clarified; flashing quotes signs with his paws.

"Your point?"

"Scandel…carrots, with a capital 'S'….And I wouldn't be surprised if whoever takes this case tries to make the argument that Bogo puts us up to it."

"He has nothing to do with this."

"Doesn't matter carrots, if there is some serious corruption of the Zootopian justice system. We would just be the latest in a long line of lies." Nick huffed.

"We still need to get in there." She stated.

"So are we going to call anyone on this? Kaiden, Kit, Agent Carter?"

"No…we can't, I don't want them involved in this, they're our friends and I don't want to put them in a situation where they would have to choose between us and their jobs."

Nick got up and paced a bit, his tail twitching nervously. Finally surrendering himself to the moment, he turned to Judy.

"I know just the guys for this." He replied, stroking his chin.

* * *

Chapter 8: …And the bag's in the river.

 _Several Hours Later…On the Road._

Never let it be said that Nick Wilde couldn't get together a crew at a moment's notice, one of the interesting things about him is that as a former con man and criminal, he has been involved in many things, which has led to many relationships, business or otherwise.

But out of the many occupations he has had over the years, pulling potential heists has always been one that got his blood on fire, even though he has chosen the respectable career of following by Judy's side as her partner, there were things he would miss about the old days. And the surreptitious entry and exit of guarded places was one that he missed.

In a way, the fact that Judy was here made it all the more enjoyable, there was a part of him that almost wished things went the other way, and she 'broke bad' with him, there were many qualities about her that would have made for a brilliant criminal mastermind. Of course, perhaps he was romanticizing his life, but still, the idea of playing some kind of 'low rent Bonnie and Clyde' with Judy was appealing to him, well at least the parts BEFORE the fatal gun battle with police.

Sitting in the back of the box truck with her, wearing clad black clothes, a balaclava perched on the top of her head. The fact of what they were about to do, Nick was excited, and seeing Judy in a burglar's get up was strangely arousing, though he made no mention of it to Judy, at least not right now.

Nick was snapped out of his fantasy when he was tapped on the shoulder by Tim Langley the otter and one third of the infamous "Trio"

"What?" Nick panned his head over in the otter's direction.

"I said, do you have all your gear?" he asked.

Nick had tapped the bag and nodded in the affirmative back at the otter.

"Yeah we got it."

"Strange, do you always keep equipment for breaking into places just lying around?"

"Hey, we never know when you'll call." Tim joked back.

The two shared a laugh, as Tim patted Nick on the shoulder before turning his attention back to his monitor.

The entire truck had been renovated into a proper heist/undercover operations truck. The standard fare of work counters, laptops, surveillance gear, as well as the previously mentioned break in/out gear

Melvin Cronkite a Jackal was driving the van, while John Baers the more conservative and level headed Koala of the group sat at one of the laptops downloading information to the target, the LAMB headquarters building, Melvin backing him up by getting information on the security system.

Nick turned back to Judy who had finished going through her bag, as if she knew what this stuff was for, and had the strangest expression on her face. Nick slid closer to the bunny and wrapped an arm around her, trying to talk to her over the loud sound of the engine.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"We have to." She replied.

"I know, but what I'm saying is are you sure YOU want to do this?" clarifying the question

"Nick…I've never done anything like this before."

"I know, that's why I'm asking. You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"Yes, I do, I'm not going to sit back and let someone else do my job for me." She explained.

"I'm proud of you. You know that right?" He beamed with a smile.

"Of what?"

"Letting me turn the tables."

"What!?"

"Well for these last couple years, I've been in your world, doing the cop thing and showing me the straight and narrow."

"And now?"

"Well now I get to share with you what I did, and showing you about the crooked one."

"We've been undercover before Nick."

"I know, but this isn't that, that always had the safety of being 'approved' and 'legit'."

"This is the excitement of doing something you KNOW is illegal and can get you in a lot of trouble." He replied with a smile.

"Are you saying you miss this?" she inquired.

"I'll admit, I do a little." He admitted

"But mainly, I'm just glad I get to share this with you." He smiled at her.

Judy smirked and rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"And also…" he started, whispering the rest of his statement into her ear.

Judy went wide eyed when she heard what Nick had said.

"Nick Wilde…how can you be thinking about that at a time like this!?" she said smacking him on the shoulder.

"I can't help it, the excitement of being here, you're here in that get up, sharing this with you finally. I never thought about it like that and it caught me off guard." He explained still having a giddy smile on his face.

At first she held a scowl but when softened up and looked at him.

"Can I be honest?"

"I think a little honesty at this point might help to balance out the seriously dishonest thing we are about to do. Sure." He joked.

"Come on Nick!"

"Sorry, yeah go ahead."

"I'm kind of glad something like this happened, because I like the fact we can share this together too."

Nick's smile beamed even brighter, if that was possible.

"And assuming we get out of here alive and more importantly without attracting attention…"

"Yes?"

"When we get home, you're mine Wilde."

"Ooo." He replied a bit whimsically.

"It's having that effect on you too?"

She simply smirked at him, feeling a sense of frustration at the fact he knows her so well.

"Adrenaline junkie." He labeled playfully.

"Shifty lowlife" she played back.

Nick chuckled giving her a kiss on the head.

The van continued on its path towards LAMB HQ.

* * *

 _Later…Vole Gardens…LAMB HQ._

The van had parked in a quiet spot near a dumpster area; two black clad figures had left the rear of the van and made their way towards the back part of the building. The taller one leading the way for the shorter one, as they approached the fenced fence in area that contained the air handler and electrical boxes. They climbed the fence and got inside one of the electrical boxes, Nick had attached a small box to the inside of the metal housing, attaching via a magnet against the metal. With a small penlight in his mouth he illuminated a small area of circuits, attaching the alligator clips to the leads of circuits. Judy marveled at how he seemed to know exactly what he was doing, watching the fox work out the problem in his mind and his paws moving with expert timing.

After attaching the last lead, their ear pieces chirped with the sound of John Baers.

"We're in."

Inside the van, the banks of monitors go active with different camera angles; the laptop's awaiting connection to the security system goes live.

"Okay, get to the rear door." Calls out Melvin.

Nick and Judy climb back out of the fenced in area and go to a nearby back door. Balaclavas pulled down over their faces, looking very much like your average thieves.

"We're here." Whispered Nick into the microphone in his collar.

"We're still syncing the system give me a moment." Replies Baers.

Nick turns to Judy, his green eyes peering out through the eye holes of his mask.

"Ya know, there is still time to call this off?" he asked honestly.

"I know, but we need to find those files, the answer is there."

"This is a lot to stake on a feeling."

"Nick…" she whispered.

"Carrots?"

"I just can't explain it; it's a very strong feeling, an instinct I just KNOW the answer is in the building."

"Alright fluff, if that's what you believe that is good enough for me."

Judy smiled underneath her mask, though Nick couldn't see, he smiled back, his cheeks puffing the side of his mask. Their eyes said everything they needed to say.

"Ok, got it." Radioed Baers as the sound of the electronic lock of the nearby door buzzed and clicked, it opening slightly.

The two walked into the building. Baers had set up a loop on all the cameras so as to let Nick and Judy have free run of the building with no one the wiser, when the time would come to for them to beat their retreat he would release the loop and remove all traces of their presence from the system. The trio being very experienced at this sort of thing, especially in Nick's past jobs where something of value was at stake, breaking into an office building seemed like child's play by comparison.

As Nick and Judy made it up the stairwell to the LAMB offices, she would look around for someone, her prey instincts kicking in, complete with the paranoia of being watched. She tried keeping it in check, but would occasionally realize how much her heart was racing. She knew what they were doing was wrong, illegal, maybe even immoral. Normally she wouldn't even consider such a thing, but the bombings, the terror had to stop, and if it cost the self-respect of one bunny rabbit to do it, then that was a fair trade as far as she was concerned.

They approached the door to the LAMB offices and Nick tried the door handle, locked, as expected but it never hurts to try anyway, you never know. Nick crouched down near the lock and pulled out a small case from his belt, opening it, it contained a lock picking set, after taking out a torsion bar and a pick Nick went to work on the lock.

Judy watched as Nick worked, the occasional clink of the metal on metal and watching his paws pull and tug on the pick, the steel focus of his eyes, it's like he was in another world. He didn't even notice her staring like he normally does. Usually when Judy stares at Nick for some time he notices, gets self-conscious and tries to deflect attention away from himself, either with a wink or a glance, sometimes a pithy joke or simply stare back at Judy with those bedroom eyes. She was so focused on watching him, she couldn't help but smile.

"Ha, yes!" he celebrated as he spun the lock around hearing it open.

There was a moment of intense sheer glee on his face to his accomplishment then it faded suddenly becoming hyper aware, he glanced at Judy, a twinge of guilt and then all it faded into his stoic expression again. She caught all of it and could practically tell what he was thinking if even he wasn't putting it into words.

She could tell that one part Nick was excited even celebrating at using his skills again, to be doing things like this, she could understand why, it _was_ exciting, it _was_ dangerous, and knowingly wrong, the forbidden fruit and the satisfaction that comes with it. Plus she could tell he was damn good at it, two decades of running cons, grifts, pulling jobs even being on a heist or two. Being with Nick Wilde; she has seen many of his faces even the intimate ones, this was the guilty pleasure face, the "I know this is wrong but I'm too good at it." look.

He's told her many times that he doesn't regret choosing to do right and stay with her and she believes it, but it wasn't until just this moment that she realizes that while he doesn't regret it, on some level he does miss it even if he didn't want to admit it to himself.

Nick collected his kit and stuffed it back in his waistband and proceeded inside. They looked around for a records room, something that may have files or a computer access to it. After a few minutes they found it. Nick had to pick this lock too, taking about as long as the first but still managed to do it in record time. The door squeaked slightly as they went into the room.

They found the record stacks, moveable shelves on tracks with three pronged handles that cause them to move along the track when turned. The deep smell of paper and toner filled the room, each shelf filled with boxes and boxes of files, some dusty and the boxes with crinkles on the cardboard, others brand new with current dates and freshly folded cardboard. The pair went through the stacks and found a computer workstation on the other end.

Nick sat down in the chair in front of the computer with Judy looking over his shoulder.

"Last I checked, you weren't a master hacker." She jibed.

"Very true my fun bun, but I don't need to be when I have the best in the business downstairs." He replied.

"I just need to be their fingers." He added, as he plugged in a thumb drive.

After pressing the thumbdrive into the port, a series of command prompt boxes were flashing on screen, running whatever script that was written into them and disappearing.

"We are getting access now." chirped Baers over the comm.

The computer logged in and started to be operated remotely, the mouse moving and windows opening and closing, as Baers was taking control.

"Assuming Control!" joked Baers over the comm

"You're a nerd John, nobody even knows that game anymore." Nick fired back deadpan.

Nick turned to Judy.

"See simple as that." He smiled back.

"What we are looking for might be on hard copy, so you might have to search the file boxes once we find any references to one. Just hold on, we're looking just stand by."

Nick simply shrugged as he spun the chair around with his feet, pulling his mask up on his head revealing his face, his slick smile and emerald eyes looking at Judy.

"What?" she asked.

"So….."

Judy pulled her mask up, setting the bundle of it across her brow, she rubbed her muzzle fur to straighten it out along with the fact that it was itching her like crazy.

"So…what?" she asked.

"What do you think?"

"Nick, I swear to god, if you don't start making sense…"

"About this, ya know, being a burglar, a thief, a….how did you put it, a ' shifty low life climbing the fence'?" he replied trying to mimic her tone from so long ago.

She scoffed and smirked back.

"I can't believe you remember that, that was….a long time ago."

"I know, but I'm curious, what do you think? Walking on the dark side of the street, crossing the line as it were?"

"That is NOT what we are doing, we are trying to find a culprit, help the city." She clarified.

"Oh come on carrots, it's ok to say you like it." He said with his eternal 'Nick' smile.

Nick rolled the chair closer to her while still staying seated, pawing at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing…I just want to hear you say it."

"Say what?"

"I don't know, that you find this…exciting, daring, a complete rush. Something like that."

"What? You want me to say that in a different time and place that I could be capable of being…"

"What? A criminal? Is that what you were going to say carrots?"

"Yeah, and no I couldn't be that, I'm too honest."

Nick stood up and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm not saying you have to be a mastermind carrots, though you're smart enough to be one, i'm just saying that maybe, somewhere out there maybe we met up and I 'showed you the ropes'." He said with a whisper.

"Maybe." She admitted.

"Would it have been so bad?"

"I know what you're doing"

"And what's that?"

"You're trying to get me to say it."

"Say what?" he replied acting innocent.

"That…If things went another way, you could have gotten me to 'break bad'."

"Well, would you have?"

"Not that I have any particular motivation to do so…But."

"I love your 'buts'." He smiled.

"Nick….yeah, I guess you could have gotten me to…" she trailed off.

"I'm sorry what was that?" he held his paw to his ear

"Grrr….Ok, ok, Yes, you could have gotten me to be a criminal, you sly fox." She growled in frustration then admitted it to him.

"There we go. See that wasn't so hard was it?"

"Little miss straight and narrow has a dark streak."

"Well, it makes sense that you would bring it out. I guess."

"Well of course."

"No I mean, it's like that Ying-Yang thing that Kaiden always talks about. Where inside one is the seed of the other. I saw good in you and I brought it out, it makes sense that there is a seed of bad in me."

"That's not what I was going for."

"Well it's something that should be taking into account, I mean my determination, boldness, willingness to break rules, I mean, _if_ I really put my mind to it I could be a really good, bad person."

"Aw carrots, don't say it like that, I was just kidding around." He admitted.

"I'm just saying, since we're entertaining the idea of 'in a different time and place'."

"Well, I was just playing with a fantasy, ya know a little 'Bunny and Clyde' action." He said with a kind smile.

"Oh you like fantasies huh?" she said as she hugged him.

"Well, I'll tell you what, we can act out a few of our own when we….." she continued to whisper into his ears.

The ideas he was hearing was making his tail wag and chuckle slightly. It wasn't until the radio chirped that snapped them out of their moment.

"Uh, guys, we can hear _EVERY_ word you're saying…" Baers warned, leaving it open to interpretation.

"Oh." The two of them muttered.

"Remind me to hose down the van." Jibed Melvin.

"I wouldn't mind hearing more." played Tim.

"Oooooook, and that moment's dead." Replied Judy.

"So are you ready to get back to work?" Baers suggested.

"Yeah, sure." Replied Nick a little embarrassed.

"Good, now while you two were….canoodling? I guess, whatever, we have been downloading a copy of the digitized files, and there is a reference to a file by Dawn Bellwether called a Project T.A.M.E.?"

"Sounds like that we are looking for." Replied Nick.

"Yeah, that's what we think too, you need to find file box 2100.05.76" confirmed Baers.

"I'll look it up." Judy offered.

"Just be careful." Nick wished waving his paw.

"Don't worry about me just keep digging." She smiled back.

Judy went down the stacks, rolling the shelving with the handles looking for the one box out of the many.

"Uh oh." She commented over the radio.

Nick held his paw to his ear.

"What?" he asked worried.

"The boxes don't go that high."

"What do you mean?"

"The last box is like 1999.09.99"

"Damn it, there is probably another records room." Said Baers.

"I can look for it." She replied trying to comfort them

"You sure carrots?" asked Nick over the comms.

"Easy."

"What if it's locked?"

"Then I'll call you over and you can work those magic paws."

Nick couldn't help but smile at that statement.

"Ok carrots, just be careful."

Judy quietly snuck out of the records room they were in and paced down the hallway, she passed a series of cubicles and office spaces, all empty, some doors open others closed, the workers simply leaving things where they lie, the quiet of the place and the emptiness of it gave Judy a creep up her spine. Being a bunny she was used to being crowded, and even in the city she was used to always being movement, people, and noise. Even cohabitating with Nick brought a presence to their apartment that never let her feel alone, whether it was his physical presence or the fact that his things were there, even the spicy scent of his musk, she was never alone.

Here though it seemed as though nothing was alive, like she was dropped in the middle of a monster movie or some post-apocalyptic disaster, nothing and nobody, things lay where they were, the place devoid of noise, activity and presence. It was an unusual and uneasy feeling, to know that there were places in the city that just stopped, becoming empty and absent.

She shook her head to snap her out of it, she had to focus on the task at hand, not observe the inherent creepiness of an empty room. She pressed on, reading the labels on each door, she noticed a familiar door. She walked up to it, the frosted glass acting as a warden to the affairs of inside, she remembered walking out these doors only a few days ago, Judy not able to help herself peered in.

'Gillian Bellwether's office.' She thought to herself.

Judy peered inside and just like the rest of the place, empty, devoid of action or presence. She scoffed, turning on her heels and looking around, she found what she was looking for another room, the label by the door saying 'Records', this room being just down the hall from Bellwether, across from her assistant.

'It made sense, of course she would want to keep the more damning files closer.' She thought.

Judy made her way to the door and grabbed the handle, turning it, the door may have been closed but it was unlocked. She inched the door open to see if anyone was inside, nobody. She went inside closing the door after her.

"How careless" she thought.

"Potentially incriminating evidence and you leave the door unlocked. Idiot!" She exclaimed in her head.

She searched the stacks of this room and within a minute found the box, opening it. There was a large folder full of papers. Perusing randomly she came upon a blueprint sketch, it was some kind of wearable equipment, looking like a necklace or collar.

"Hey guys, I think I found it." She chimed in.

"Does 'Training Aided Motivational Experience' mean anything to you?"

There was a silence for a moment but both Baers and Nick muttered in the negative over the radio.

"What did you find Judy?" asked Nick.

"Something about this Project T.A.M.E., it looks like some sort of collar."

"Collar? Like as in something you put on your neck?" inquired Baers confused.

"Yeah."

"That's very strange." Replied Baers.

"Give me a minute to figure this out." she stated.

Judy looked through some of the other paper work she saw words and phrases like "Predator threat" "Mandatory usage", there was a graph showing population figures she didn't quite know how to interpret. She decided she was just going to take the box and figure it out later. She started to stuff the small mess she created back into the box. Her focused thoughts were too distracted to have heard the door open, but snapped her out of her mind when she heard someone speak to her.

"Judy?" asked a voice with a lisp.

She froze, wide eyed, and caught.

She craned her head around to see a pangolin.

"Max? Hey….well what are you doing here?" she stood up, smiling, asking playfully trying in vain to distract from what she was doing.

"I was working late." He replied.

"Well you know, you shouldn't be such a workaholic." Judy chuckled nervously.

"What are you doing here?" he asked kindly.

"I was just…um…." She wrung her paws trying to think of an explanation

'Ah rabbit pellets, how does Nick do it?' she asked herself.

"Max I….I think your boss is up to no good." She admitted.

"What do you mean?" Max raised an eyebrow.

Judy was unsure of how to break it to the pangolin, being such a nice mammal, she figured he had a simpler world view, in fact he reminded her of herself when she first came to Zootopia. She felt a sting of guilt as she had to be the one to shatter his illusions.

She sucked air through her teeth as she was trying to conjure the words.

"I am certain that someone at LAMB, namely your boss is responsible for the bombings that have been happening. That…she is either the culprit or is managing the culprit."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because we just found some very disturbing evidence that may point to a motive."

"Such as?"

"Well let's just say it's reason enough that this whole terrorism thing maybe to make preds look bad, like real bad, and force some kind of permanent and mandatory something on them."

"That's why the terrorist is portrayed as a predator, why the predator looked like Paxton Mobley who has been a champion for predators. This whole thing has been to make it seem that predators are trying to I don't know, rise up or something. So that prey animals can do something drastic that restricts their freedoms."

"Oh my god. That's….unconscionable."

"I know, so Nick and I kind of….broke in." she admitted ashamed hanging her head.

"Wait, you're here all by yourself? No cops outside?"

"No, this isn't exactly…a legitimate investigation." She replied picking her words carefully.

"Oh…so…this, what you're doing here is like breaking and entering?" He replied pointing at the file box behind Judy's feet with his claw.

"Yes?" she replied very nervously.

Max thought about it for a second, mulling it over, Judy nervously twitched wondering what was going through his head.

"What can I do to help?"

"Oh Max, I can't ask you to…."

"Look, something bad is going on here…I want to help, if only to help the predators."

"Oh you sweet pangolin…Thank you." She smiled.

"Don't thank me yet." He countered.

Judy turned around and started to pick up the files off the floor and stuff them back in the box. Finishing a few moments later, she put the top on the box.

"Did you ever think when you said you wanted to be a cop in that play you would EVER be changing the world like this, Officer Hopps?" asked Max

"No, I never thought I would." She replied with a smile.

Judy's smile and elation suddenly drained away and a look of concern came across her face, then fear. She looked up towards the shelf in front of her, still facing away from Max.

"We….never released that video to the public." She stated gritting her teeth.

A moment of silence passed.

"You're right…you didn't…..I guess that was _MY_ mistake" Max admitted.

Judy turned with a pained expression on her face, she turned to see Max holding a silver pistol gripped remote, the type of remote you see come with RC cars, except this one clearly made of metal and not plastic.

"I told you I was going to see you soon." Replied Max, his voice was different this time, he dropped his lisp and his voice was deeper, his enunciation was proper, sounding much more like his recordings.

"Oh my god…why?"

"I will explain in time, but for now, you're coming with me."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because this remote is connected to a small package that is sitting under the fox's chair right now. I let go, and let's just say Nick Wilde does his impression of a Jackson Pollock painting." Replied Max with a serious, deadly glare.

"Please… don't hurt him." Judy pleaded.

"I won't hurt him Judy, _if_ you do as I say."

"Now pick up the file box, and come with me."

Judy complied, picking up the file box with both paws and stood in front of Max. Using his other paw he quickly patted her down looking for a weapons, which he found her dart gun, tossing it to the floor. He took off her radio and cast it aside.

"Now move." He replied, poking her in the back with the remote as if it was a pistol.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Nick had been working with Baers to transfer some digital files, following the Koala's instructions. After finishing, he craned his head around.

"Judy's been gone a while." He remarked.

"I'm going to go look for her, can you handle the rest on your own?"

"Yeah, we can spare a few minutes, we need to find those files though."

"Yeah, the files….I'm going to look for Judy."

Nick stood up and started walking towards the door, he didn't even get five paces before an alarm went off. At first he thought that maybe Judy had tripped something, or a guard saw something, but the flashing lights in the halls and in the rooms told him it was a fire alarm. In a panic, Nick rushed out the door.

"Judy! Judy!" he called out into the office not caring to keep his presence a secret.

He remembered that she took a right out of the door, so he followed hoping that he would run into her on the way back to him.

He jogged through the halls, calling out for her.

"Nick, Nick! Listen to me" called out Baers on the radio.

"Don't even start." Nick fired back.

Nick made his way to the other side of the office and found an open door, it was another records room. He went inside.

"Judy!" he exclaimed expecting her to be in there.

Nick saw a dart gun and a radio on the ground, he walked over and picked them up, the gun had not been fired, and her radio was intact, the headset still smelled of her scent. He noticed a gap in the nearby file shelf, noticing the numbers of the neighboring boxes he surmised the missing box was the one they were looking for.

"Nick, listen to me, you have got to get out of there." Baers demanded

"Not without Judy!" Nick replied.

"She's not there."

"Grr, how the hell do _you_ know?!" Nick growled.

Melvin got on the radio.

"Listen to me Nick, someone else is in the building, the security feed, it's bogus, it's a loop."

"What?!" Nick exclaimed.

"We looped over a loop! When we looked at the 'live' feed we trapped, neither of you are on it, it's a loop from someone else in the system. You need to get out of there; it's a goddamn trap!"

"Nick listen to me, I can hear the sirens from the fire trucks already, we _CAN'T_ be here when they arrive, if we get caught…if YOU get caught you won't be able to save Judy."

Nick was torn between wanting to keep searching or leaving, he wasn't sure which the truth was. Was she still there somewhere or was she gone. He was not going to leave her behind. He made his way back out into the hallway, looking for any sign. Nothing.

"God Damn it Nick! They're coming!"

* * *

 _In the parking lot…_

Melvin got into the driver's seat and started the van.

"Mel, we can't leave without Nick." Yelled the Koala.

"By my estimate we have two minutes before the authorities get here, I'm leaving in one."

"But he's our friend."

"Then get him down here, John!" screamed Melvin.

Baers pleaded on the radio for Nick to come down, suddenly there was a crash, the trio looked out through the van's windshield, to see that a heavy desk had come out of a window and crashed into the overhang that was above the entrance

"What the hell?" commented Tim.

They then saw Nick approach the opening, looking down gauging the distance between the now broken window and the overhang.

"Holy crap, is he crazy, Mel get over there!"

Melvin put the van and drive and quickly drove over to just in front of the overhang, the trio watched as Nick jumped, rolling to his side and hit the overhang with a loud bang, denting it. They heard him call out in pain.

"Nick!" called out Baers.

Nick picked himself up and limped to the edge of the overhang and dropped down to the roof of the van. Tim opened the roll over hatch and pulled Nick inside. Nick was clutching his side.

"Good god Nick, are you ok?! Did you break anything?!" Tim asked.

"I don't think so, but it still hurts like hell." He grunted

Melvin floored the gas pedal and they sped off down the street away from the building and the coming sirens. They got about half a mile away when they heard a loud explosion, the burst of fire and light.

Everyone looked at the building, even Melvin glanced at it from the rear view.

"Oh god Nick….I'm sorry." Comforted Tim.

"It's fine. She wasn't in there." Nick reasoned.

"How?..."

"She wasn't!" he snapped staring at Tim.

"Where ever she is, she's alive….I…..I can feel it."

Nick cradled his aching side as they sped off into the night.

* * *

Chapter 9: Disclosure

 _Zootopia…Tundratown…Icy Lake…_

Vivian awoke with a start as she heard a hard knock on her door, almost banging, jarred out of her sleep she couldn't be sure she wasn't still dreaming. But then the rapping on the door came again confirming its existence. She quickly got out of bed and grabbed a pair of sweatpants from a nearby chair. Quickly putting them on, almost falling over as her drowsy balance wasn't quite there yet, she grabbed her nine mil and walked up to the door.

"Who is it?" she asked loud enough for her voice to penetrate the door.

"It's me Snowball." The voice replied back with a slight annoyance in his voice.

"Nick?...Wilde?"

"Yeah, look We….er I need help."

Vivian relaxed a bit and looked out her peephole, she saw Nick in the center of her view and what looked like Kaiden and Kit at the edges. She unlocked the door, unlatching the security chain and opened the door.

"What's the matter?" she asked drowsily and wiped the sleep out of her eye with her paw.

"I woke you…" Nick replied with gritted teeth.

"Oh no, it's only four in the morning I was going to wake up…in 3 hours." She replied, finishing the sentence with a mutter.

"I need your help…Judy….she's been taken."

Those words made Vivian's awareness snap to attention.

"What?!"

"Look, I'll tell you the story, but we need to get going." Nick stated with insistence in his voice.

"Where are we going?" she inquired.

"The FIB." Kaiden stepped in and replied.

"Why the FIB?" she inquired.

"Because we need to look up a file on a particular mammal."

"Who? Is it the bomber?" she asked.

"I think, I don't know, all I know is he kidnapped Judy."

Vivian rubbed her temple with the forefingers of her paw.

"Let me get dressed."

Vivian quickly went to her bedroom and dressed in civilian clothes and came back, wearing her black slacks, a salmon colored shirt, and her shoulder holster and her credentials clipped to her belt.

"Let's go."

The four of them got into Kaiden and Kit's van and made their way to the FIB. Nick recounted the circumstances of how Judy was kidnapped and what they were doing that night. Vivian's reaction was as one would expect, complete with admonishments and sheer amazement at the seemingly gross violation of not just law but of sheer sense of rightness. Kaiden had commented that Kit and he had similar reactions after they heard.

But in the end, the concern for Judy is what won out, placing blame and accountability would come later, right now the concern for Judy's well being was paramount in the minds of these mammals, Nick especially, even Kaiden was echoing Nick's sentiments when it came to what was discussed as what possibilities they would conduct for her retrieval.

When they arrived at the FIB building, no one was there, it was still way too early for the day shift agents to be in, and the night shift had already gone home, what existed left was less than a skeleton crew of support staff who were either on their way in or out for the day.

After Nick had explained the situation, Vivian understood what they needed to do, the FIB computers had detailed files on most Zootopians, it was an unpleasant fact that people didn't really want to publically talk about but the reality was that Zootopia for all its faults and foibles was surveilled constantly, the traffic cameras alone caught a lot on them, and what the audio visual media doesn't provide, the deluge of files and forms that exist fill in the blanks.

The four sat in the van just outside the building in the parking lot.

"So tell me again why you can't use your connections?" asked Vivian towards Kaiden and Kit.

"Because we don't have that kind of information lying around in our computers, and while we could request access that would mean official channels, and this isn't something I want to make public just yet."

"And the reason for that would be?"

"Because we would have to say 'How' and 'Where' Judy got kidnapped, meaning talking about their 'impropriety'."

"Riiiiiight." The arctic fox answered plainly.

"Well, If Nick and I get in the building; we can go to my desk and simply search out records."

"…and pray my boss isn't here." She added as a mutter.

"Why would that matter?" asked Kaiden

"Ha, you don't know Samantha Varkkas like I do, she has a natural talent for sniffing out when something is up, trust me, she catches me, let alone Nick, in there especially at this time of night, she's going to ask. And she won't stop till she gets the truth." She replied.

"Ah, got it, avoid the boss aggro." Replied Kit.

"Huh?" she replied confused.

"Nevermind."

"I'm assuming when you said "Nick and me" you are meaning that we can't come with you?" asked Kaiden

"Yeah. It will be a lot easier to sneak in two animals as opposed to four, and honestly, you guys look a little "rough" to be confused for FIB agents."

"Rough?" Kaiden inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Um…." She replied not exactly knowing how to put it.

"She means the disfiguring scars and augments." Kit said plainly with almost an amused grin on his muzzle.

"Ah." Kaiden acknowledged.

"Sorry, I don't mean it to sound the way it sounds…"

"Doesn't matter, just go. We're on comm channel three." Kaiden replied.

* * *

Vivian and Nick left the car and made their way towards the building. As they made their way inside, Vivian made a point to avoid people as casually as possible; Sam Varkkas wasn't the only one who could blow their cover with a lot of inane questions.

After taking a roundabout route, they finally reached Vivian's office, which had a lot of frosted glass surfaces, giving the office a carved from ice look. Vivian had a personal affinity for the cold and stoic nature of ice, how something as seemingly weak and flexible as water can turn into something as imposing and immoveable as ice, giving it a sense of strength and hardness to it. While at the same time offering cool comfort to those that seek it. She liked the cold, her arctic nature won out in that regard and why Tundra Town was her chosen district.

She sat down and logged into her computer with Nick looking over her shoulder, but still at the ready to hide in case someone walks into the fox's office.

"Ok, so who are we looking for?" asked Vivian.

"OK, pull up anything you can on a 'Max Hedgeright', a pangolin, working for LAMB." Nick answered.

"Wait, wait, you mean that little nasally guy that's been hanging around you two for the last couple weeks?"

"Yes."

"Oh my god." She replied wide eyed.

"Just type." He insisted.

Vivian typed in his name, species, and as much of the description she could remember into the computer. Sure enough a file popped up with the name Max Hedgeright.

"That's the guy. Now…Where does he live?"

"Wait a sec, this can't be right." She commented, her vision narrowing suspiciously.

"What can't be right?" Nick replied.

"Well firstly, this guy doesn't have any history with demolitions or mining, which means where did he get access to the explosives?"

"Couldn't he just have stolen them?"

"Possibly but I doubt it, the explosives he's using are highly regulated and require specific handling, care and training to use. Not something you can learn by watching videos on FurTube."

"Does it really matter, he's got Judy."

"Yeah it does Nick, because while that alone might not seem like anything, there is something else that is downright suspicious."

"And that would be?"

"Look at the dates all this was entered, birth certificate, social security, driver's license." She said pointing a finger at the screen.

Nick looked at where she was pointing and noticed that the dates had two things in common, they were all the same date and that it was over a year ago when it happened.

"What does that mean?" asked Nick as if waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"I've seen this before with refugees or with some of the people from the cryo pods, the fact they are all entered into the database on the same day means that this identity known as 'Max Hedgeright' can't be real and that someone entered in a new identity into the system."

"How is that possible? I mean how can someone just 'invent' a new identity?"

"Oh come on, you're telling me all those years of being a con man, you didn't at least KNOW someone who could get you a new ID if you needed it?"

"Those IDs were often reclaimed from dead people who were already in the system; you can't just 'invent' a new fake one."

"Yes you can, if you know where the cracks are. Let's just say that a lot of government agencies don't talk to each other and that all you really need create a new identity a seemingly valid birth certificate in one paw and a social security number in the other."

"Wow….that certainly doesn't surprise me actually." Nick replied with an almost incredulous expression.

"Please tell me that you know of a way to find out who this guy really is?"

"I do, but it's going to take more time then you were hoping for." Vivian consoled.

"Damn it." Nick muttered, thumping his paw on the desk with gritted teeth.

"Nick, stop, don't be like that, we will find her, it's just going to take some time."

"She doesn't have time!" Nick exclaimed.

"Nick."

"Stop, just stop, I don't need consoling, just start, do whatever it is that you need to do."

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

The cold splash of water, the jagged rustle from unconsciousness, the water was ice cold, it stung at the skin beneath her fur, the fur itself moist and sticky from sweat, the stagnant air of their location must have made her sweat in her sleep. The deep gasp of air as the ice water triggered her diving reflex. Judy's eyes opened, a point of bright light which cast a shadow on everything around her, it took a moment for her eyes to focus.

"Wake up." She heard a voice.

She turned towards it, at first thinking it was Nick waking her up from a nightmare, that everything that happened was a dream, and that he was going to tell her everything was alright.

The moment never came, instead as her grogginess wore off, the cold truth of reality came rushing in like a wave on a tide, washing away the veneer of that fantasy from the shore of her mind. She shook her head slightly to shake off the water trying to get into her eyes.

Her memories coming back to her, being coerced from the building with the box of material, going down to his car, the powerful scent of the rag stuffed over her muzzle, chloroform, the black haze of unconsciousness that soon followed.

She took stock in her situation, she was sitting in a chair, her legs tied to the feet and her arms to the armrests of the chair, she was immobilized.

She focused on the figure she could hear walking around, but the light pointed at her was obscuring her from making it out.

"Hello, who's there. Max? Is that you?" she asked into the darkness just beyond the light.

The spotlight turned off and the normal room lighting came on, it provided enough light for her to make out the shape a few feet away from her, though the spots in her vision were in the way.

"Good, you're awake." the figure said

"Max, why are you doing this?"

"Oh let's drop the pretense shall we?" he asked walking closer to her.

"What are you talking about?"

Max had dropped his nasally voice and spoke normally, his voice sounded similar but not as deep as on the videos he was sending out, his enunciation proper and his speech clear.

"I think you know exactly what this is about, you just don't want to revisit it."

"Max, I don't know what you're talking about."

"MY NAME ISN'T MAX!" he exclaimed.

Judy sat in silence trying not to inflame his temper even more.

"Then who are you?" she asked calmly.

"It's Brandon, and I am just one of your victims, Judy Hopps."

"What are you talking about?"

Judy was truly confused, wondering how she had victimized him. There was definitely more to this case then meets the eye but she had no idea what place it could have started nor fathom the history behind it.

"I'm talking about, 'ZPD's First Rabbit Officer' and her big case, I'm talking about everything that set this whole god damn thing in motion, the life you have lead for the last two years."

"What the _HELL_ are you on about?" she exclaimed, trying to gain a grip on the situation.

"The 'Savage Case', 'The Bellwether Conspiracy' whatever you want to call it. The truth behind it is a lot deeper than you even realize."

"I also know there was a group even behind Bellwether, animals who put her up to it for some grander plan."

Judy was starting to put some of it together, she realized that this pangolin was putting together the pieces of the puzzle from before, that he was chasing the Illuminati, following down the same path as her just a few paces behind.

"I know." She admitted.

"You know what?" he replied.

"I know who you're talking about." she started.

"They were called the Illuminati, and they put Bellwether up to it, but Nick and I…we took care of them, they are gone. You're safe." She admitted.

The pangolin lurched forward grabbing the chair and getting practically muzzle to muzzle with her.

"Safe? No one is safe! And what you think you've accomplished is pitiful compared to how far you have left to go."

"Left to go?"

"You don't even know…Do YOU? You can't even fathom the total extent of this journey; you think you're finished, you think you've won? Ha!"

"You don't even see them do you?"

"See what? I don't understand."

"The shadows in the dark." He replied cryptically.

Brandon stepped back and motioned to the spot lamp.

"You're problem Judy, is that you have spent so much time in the light, you don't even realize there _IS_ a larger world just beyond the edges."

"That just like this light, it can illuminate so much in great detail, but what people often don't realize, is that the same light washes out their vision and obscures anything just outside its coverage, you don't see anything."

"When Lionheart seemed the culprit, you took care of him, when Bellwether presented herself, you took care of her, the Illuminati, somehow you dealt with them. Each one of these things shows your very good at taking care what's in front of you, but not so good at dealing with the periphery. "

"So why am I here? I remember your message, I have something to learn, well what is it you want to teach me?" she spat almost angry.

"You here to learn that you should clean up your messes, and that what we leave behind is not just history but a portent for the future. But mainly you're here to atone."

"Atone? For what?" she replied incredulously.

"Your sins." He answered.

The statement sent a cold shiver up her spine, she wasn't sure what Brandon's meaning by 'atone for her sins', but she could be assured it wouldn't be pleasant.

"Tell me then. Tell me what I have done."

"Where to start. How about the sin of pride?"

"Pride?"

"Yes. What made you think that a fresh recruit out of the academy was even capable of working on what amounted to be one of the most dangerous cases in police history?"

"Wait, you're saying that I was wrong for wanting to find the missing mammals?"

"I'm saying, What do you think about a fresh recruit from the academy, who hasn't even worn the badge for a week, and you involve yourself in a high profile case? What would call that?"

"I am not going to apologize for wanting to help people."

"Really? And were you helping people when you told all of Zootopia that ten percent of their population was biologically predisposed to suddenly turn savage? Especially since you didn't have a clue why?"

Judy was stunned by the question, she had come to grips with that mistake but to be confronted by it again brought up the same feelings of guilt she felt before.

"I….uh….made a mistake, a big mistake, one that should have never happened. I admit that."

"It's good that you admit that."

"And I learned from that mistake." She added.

Brandon backpawed her across the cheek, he head spun in reaction from it, her cheek burned as she felt the blood rushing back into it. She turned her head back, the hit had caused the inside of her mouth to cut across her teeth, she spat out some blood on the floor.

"Well I'm so glad that you learned from it, I would hate to think the deaths of all those mammals were a waste." He said getting in her face.

"What are you talking about?" she replied with narrowed eyes of anger.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Brandon countered sarcastically.

"After you made your 'mistake' and then you subsequently disappeared, leaving us in the hooves of Bellwether for three months, many mammals died because of the belief that 'predators were going savage due to biology.' Many predators died because of mobs of prey fearing for their lives, and many prey died as a result from the backlash from those predators trying to defend themselves."

"You are responsible for their deaths Judy."

"Their blood is on your paws…" he said with conviction.

"But hey….at least your learned you lesson." He said sarcastically.

"I'm so glad that your education didn't require the sacrifice of more innocent mammals."

Judy's cheek was starting to swell and throb, she could feel it pressing against her teeth, so she had to speak carefully so as not to accidently bite her own cheek, speaking almost as if she had a wad of gum in her mouth.

"So who did you lose?"

The pangolin's eyebrow shot up.

"What?" he asked skeptically

"I'm not stupid, despite what you think, you wouldn't go through all of this just for some bullshit politics. This is personal for you, so who did you lose?"

Brandon smirked.

"Hmph, Maybe you're not the stupid little bunny rabbit that people think you are."

"I did lose someone."

"Who?" she asked

"My wife."

"How?"

"Does it matter?" He asked.

"Yes! If I'm going to be held accountable for these 'crimes' I want to know who." He replied forcefully.

"She died defending a tiger, a predator, who had come into our bar, and a group of prey who saw this, didn't take kindly to his presence, so they decided to claim he was 'savage' and tried to kill him."

"The fight that ensued was eventually ended when the prey decided to set the tiger on fire."

"Of course the drunken bastards missed and set the building on fire. After it was said and done, the tiger, my wife, several patrons were dead, smoke inhalation. The prey apparently barred the door to keep them getting out."

"They locked them inside, to burn them to death" Brandon gritted his teeth, an angry expression on his face.

"My god." She commented.

"Oh it's gets worse, I of course knew who these people were and they were regulars in our part of town. So of course I filed charges against them. See back then I was a believer in the system that justice was for all."

"They were arrested and brought into court, I expected justice, but they claimed that the tiger was savage and that he caused the fire, and that the act of them barricading the door was 'self-defense'."

"The judge of course believed it, the district attorney was reluctant to press the issue, and the public defender played that 'savage' card for all it was worth."

"I've never heard more poisonous words to my ears then when the jury said 'not guilty' and they let them go."

"They let murderers go free, all because they played the 'savage' card. And to my horror that wasn't the least of it. Oh no, I later found out my case was one of but many cases in which prey mammals were essentially getting away with murder."

Judy's eyes welled with water, partly due to the tragedy of these events and the pain from her cheek.

"Of course, I'm sure you can guess who the presiding Judge was in all these cases."

"Jeffrey Evans." Answered Judy.

"Yes."

"So all the people you've killed, it was to get back at them?"

"It wasn't simple revenge. And while it may not have been 'Justice' in the standard sense, at the very least it was…."

"Punishment?" Judy offered.

"Very good."

"You can't just take the law into your own paws." She judged.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because it's wrong." She refuted

"Who says, the system? Those in power? The problem is those animals have a vested interest in maintaining their power and position. So of course they would say that. They _NEED_ us to believe in them, to have faith in what they have to offer, they need us to believe that we need them, that we need a system to keep things organized and orderly." Brandon explained.

"It doesn't matter if the system actually works or not, just so long as we believe. Look I know the world is messed up, I know it's broken, but the only chance it has is if mammals stand together and fix it from within." Judy tried to console.

"That is unfortunately where you and I differ; I don't believe the system _deserves_ to be saved. I believe that our only hope for survival is to tear it down and start again."

"You have to have more faith than that." Judy replied.

"My faith died with my wife." He replied.

* * *

Chapter 10: Signs and Portents

 _Zootopia…On the road…_

Kaiden and company were making their way away from the FIB building and towards a destination to the south end of Gnu York towards Mole Harbor.

"Ok so tell me what you found out?" asked Kaiden.

"This mammal, Max Hedgeright is an alias, an alternate identity to another mammal." Explained Vivian.

"So Nick and I did a facial recognition search for any pangolins even close to the description, and we got a hit."

"And?"

"Brandon Meeks, age thirty seven, moved to Zootopia about five years ago with his wife Nicole, they set up a bar in south Gnu York, which is kind of an industrial area, ya know those docks by Mole Harbor."

"Yeah, I know the place."

"Well take a guess who Mr. Meeks used to work for?"

"Out with it, Carter." Scowled Kaiden.

"Oh sorry, he used to work for Takashi Mining Group. And get this; he was dismissed for 'emotional stability issues.'" Vivian explained.

"Really now?" commented Kit.

"Well let's be fair, according to the reports he had good reason, he was involved in a serious cave in." added Nick.

"Yeah according to the disaster recovery psychologist, he claimed he was seeing things and that the mining crew wasn't killed in the cave in." continued Nick

"Well that was probably a post-traumatic stress response." Rebutted Vivian.

"Ok, and then what?" Kaiden asked trying to continue the conversation.

"Well, he signed a non-disclosure agreement, given a bonus on his pension and moved to Zootopia with his wife. Where they bought the bar and set up shop."

"So what changed?"

"Well, his wife died almost two years ago."

"How?"

"Apparently a tiger went savage in the bar, started a fire and got everyone including himself killed."

Kaiden scoffed and shook his head, muttering 'Good god.' under his breath.

"He has definitely got a lot to be pissed about." commented Kit.

"So we're heading to this bar?"

"Yes, Mr. Meeks never rebuilt or sold it after the fire, simply condemned and boarded it up, perfect place for him to hide out considering Max Hedgeright as far as anyone knows has no connection to that area."

"You're sure he's there though?" asked Kaiden.

"According to the psychological profile on Mr. Meeks, yes it's very likely that he will seek out a place of comfort and familiarity, the fact that he has gone out of his way to craft an identity to be his public face while his real identity was obscured."

"What do you mean?"

"According the records Mr. Meeks went missing around the same time Max Hedgeright came into the system."

"It's also the reason why in our list of current licensed demolitions operators, why Mr. Meeks never came up. He was listed as missing presumed dead."

"Ok, you've convinced me…Plus it's the only shot we got." Replied Kaiden.

"Guess you got a good head on your shoulders, eh Snowball?" Kit complemented Vivian with a smile.

"I wish people would stop calling me that." Vivian replied with an annoyed huff.

"Ah don't take it personally, it means we like you." Kit replied with a playful wink.

Vivian rolled her eyes and shook her head.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Brandon was going through the file box and organizing the information into piles that he could scan into his computer, presumably for his next transmission. Judy still strapped to the chair, she looked around trying to figure out where she was, it was clearly underground, no windows and the cold damp feeling despite the fact that it was the middle of summer, it told her that they must be underground, far enough where the heat would bleed away into the surrounding earth. She watched Brandon as he worked, there was sadness to him, it explained his anger, his frustration. Like as if he viewed life with the inevitability of a ticking clock.

Judy actually found herself feeling sorry for him, though her thoughts would drift to trying figure out what plan he had for her.

"Can you tell me about her?" she asked.

The pangolin stopped and turned to Judy, at first she was worried he would be angry, but his eyes shifted around in his head as if mulling through memories, as the thought of her seemed to fill his every waking thought.

"Why do you want to know? I would think you would be trying to figure a way out of here."

"Because I want to know about her, about you."

"Why?"

"Because clearly you've gone through a lot of trouble, and you must have cared for her very much to do all of this."

"Of course I care about her. She was my reason for living, she was the one thing that kept me alive when I was down in that hellish pit."

Judy simply looked and waited. Brandon shifted focus and sat down in a chair next to the box.

"Nicole is….er was, the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Nicole was kind and gentle, she would never hurt a fly. She saw the best in people."

"I always tell myself that maybe that's why she came to the aid of that tiger, that maybe he was a good mammal, And good mammals need to be protected."

"When we came to this city, all she ever wanted was to be in business for herself. She didn't want a handout, just a chance, an opportunity. Can you understand that?"

"Yes, I can." Judy admitted.

"We came here to start a new life, to build something together, and we had it, for a while."

"She had always been there for me; I just wanted to do something for her."

"When that blasted cave in happened, when they pulled us out, she was…there for me."

"Keep going." Judy encouraged.

Brandon looked up from his seemingly distant gaze and focused on Judy for a moment, then his gaze move past her again.

"I was a mining engineer for a very prestigious company, we were on the cutting edge, willing to go anywhere for the motherlode. My life seemed very average, and then I met her, she was working as a waitress for the local restaurant in town. It being a mining town, the only customers they had were the workers."

"I think back and realize, she could have picked anyone she wanted, but she chose me. And even now I wonder what she saw."

"We had discussed what we were going to do with our lives when it happened."

"There was a collapse, one of the tunnel braces must have come loose, but it was enough to drop half a mountain on us. It was cold and dark, the pumps had stopped working and the water started to pool up around us."

"I could hear my coworkers, my friends calling out for help, we were down there three days before 'it' found us."

Judy suddenly had a chill creep up her spine.

"What do you mean, 'it found you'?" she asked

Brandon looked right at Judy, locking gaze with her.

"I firmly believe it knew we were down there the entire time, hell, I think it knew we were there when we first started digging."

"Whatever it was, wasn't natural, someone…some…thing put it there and it wasn't us."

"It showed me things. Horrible things, visions, dreams, memories, I don't know."

"It showed us all, but they couldn't understand, they couldn't survive it."

"It made them crazy, they started killing themselves. They did things to themselves, tried to stop the visions, my friend Marcus, he took a drill to his skull to try and bore the images out."

"I was the only one, the only animal who didn't go mad…" Brandon had an almost crazed expression on his muzzle.

"The next day, when they pulled me out, they found me covered in blood, I tried to tell them it was Marcus', I tried to stop him, I tried to tell them what had happened, but they didn't believe me."

Judy felt a twinge of terror at the back of her mind, she wasn't sure what he was describing, was Brandon recounting some full blown hallucination or maybe he did something down there. She couldn't be sure, but she focused on not succumbing to the fear.

"And then what happened?"

"They labeled me as 'Emotionally Unstable', so they pulled me from mining duty, they had lawyers shove a big fat non-disclosure agreement in my face and told me to sign it."

"At first, I didn't want to, I wasn't going to let them get away with this, I wasn't going to let them hang it on me and let those poor mammals be buried in a lie. I'm almost certain they wanted it, whatever it was, they knew it was down there. And they sent us to find it."

"But they found out about Nicole and they told me that if I didn't sign it, they would make sure she would never work again, and they would make sure that whatever opportunities she would try to build for herself, would fail."

"So I signed it. I signed it and let them get away with it."

"They paid me my pension, even gave me a huge bonus on it, they called "Extreme Hazard Pay". Truth is they wanted to shut me up and they figured threatening her was the best way, the money just greased the wheels even more."

"Truth is, it worked." He said with a huff.

"So we gathered what little we had, and got the hell out of there, never to return."

"I married her the second we got here, and I used that pension money to give her the business she wanted. A little tavern on the south side of Gnu York, a place of food and drink and merriment."

"I think I understand." Said Judy.

"Oh?" Brandon replied.

"You're striking back at mammals who are trying to get away with doing wrong, punishing them for what they did to her, and trying to make up for not standing your ground before." She continued

"But there is one thing I just can't understand. Why prey? Why strike back at prey?"

"Because of what they did to my wife." He replied matter-of-factly.

"I still don't understand."

Brandon stood up from his chair, the light catching his eyes, tears welled in them. He went over and retrieved a photo from a drawer in the makeshift desk and brought it over to Judy, showing it to her.

The photo was of the bar, filled with a small group of patrons and Brandon behind the bar.

"What's this?" she asked.

"A little grand opening party on our first night of business."

"Myself, my wife and a few of the neighborhood friends we made."

Judy looked around the photograph, there were several mammals both predator and prey but confusion set in, when she realized the photograph only contained one pangolin and that was Brandon.

Her confusion must have been written on her face because Brandon chuckled half-heartedly.

"Confused?" he offered.

"I don't…where is your wife?" she asked.

"She's right there." Replied Brandon pointing.

Judy followed the pangolin's claw as he pointed to a female hyena who was sitting across from him, as she was passing out drinks, Judy could clearly see the ring on her left paw, as well as Brandon's as he was cleaning a glass in the photo.

Judy looked up from the photo and looked Brandon in the muzzle.

"She was a hyena?"

"You assumed she was a pangolin didn't you? Or at the very least prey?"

"I did, I'm sorry."

"I know, most people do."

"I've just never heard of a Hyena and a Pangolin." She commented.

"And I've never heard of a Fox and a Rabbit." He countered.

Judy shared an unlikely moment with Brandon, in that moment they seemed to have very much in common, though she has skirted the line, come close, Brandon willfully crossed it, not for the reasons of hate that Judy assumed but out of some misguided sense of loyalty and love.

Though of course that didn't absolve him of his crimes, it did put them in perspective. Brandon for all his faults, and his deeds while criminal, was in turn victimized by other criminals. The true tragedy of all of this is that in another time and in another place, Judy could see herself calling him, a friend.

She acknowledged her contribution to all of this; she realized what she has done. The press conference and what she said was more than just the ramblings of a, at the time close-minded bunny rabbit.

What she said didn't just emotionally hurt Nick, or offend predators everywhere, her words opened the floodgates to hatred and animosity over the whole city, it gave mammals the likes of Dawn Bellwether the climate to grow and flourish, all the while clothing themselves in their apparent righteousness.

And moreover, the fact that she didn't stand by her conviction, wrong as it was, but turned tail and ran back to Bunnyburrow, leaving these mammals to the very villains she sought to protect them from. A regret she will always carry, doing what the stereotypical bunny rabbit does "to run away", the cold reality of that fact stabbed at her heart

"I'm sorry Brandon, for what my words did to you, and I'm sorry that I ran. I realize that now, I made two mistakes back then. Both of them out of fear. I realize now that I can't just fix this, that there are people who are hurt or dead because of this."

"But I'm asking you to stop, killing more people won't bring you the peace you're looking for."

Brandon walked a few paces.

"I don't need to kill more people."

"I just need to kill one more person."

Judy stared ahead with a sad expression, wincing, trying to hold back the tears, but willing to face her fate. Brandon walked back over and tilted her head back up with his claw.

"I'm not talking about you Judy."

"What?" she asked almost in disbelief.

"My ultimate revenge isn't you. You're just a means to an end."

"Then why did you kidnap me?"

"Because, I need _YOU_ to know why I have done this."

"Because despite what they say about me, despite what they _WILL_ say about me, I wanted you to know the truth."

"Those dreams I had, those visions. For years, I thought that's exactly what they were, just dreams."

"It wasn't until I heard Mayor Lionheart on the television, announcing your name that I became certain."

"Certain of what?"

"That what I saw, what 'it' showed me…will happen."

"You can't be serious." She replied

"Of course I am. Haven't you felt it Judy, the inexorable pull towards something. Something you can't see or hear, but can feel its presence, its influence on your life."

"All the world's a stage, and we are but players in it."

"There is something coming, a dark and terrible time. And what I've done will be nothing compared to what's coming."

"At first I believed you to be evil, a kind of harbinger of our doom."

"And now?" she asked.

"I'm not so sure anymore. I know that you are the center of what's coming."

"What….What's coming?" She stammered.

"The end of everything as we know it."

"What?" she replied with a whisper.

Judy didn't know what to make all of this, the ramblings of a mad pangolin that has lost everything or something more. She could tell that _HE_ believed it, but of what substantive value it had remained to be seen.

"You don't believe me, do you?" he asked.

Judy was unsure what to answer.

"Nicole didn't either."

"I told her once, what the visions were."

"It scared her just as it's scaring you now."

"We even got into an argument once about it."

"But I couldn't ignore it. Especially once they started coming true."

"We think we have all the time in the world Judy. But the truth is, life is a lot shorter than we think, and for some tragically so."

"I loved Nicole, I still _love_ her, I would do anything to have her back. But I know no matter what I do, she will be gone forever."

"I do this _for_ her, these horrible and eldritch creatures who call themselves righteous mammals, yet plot and plan in the darkness."

"You want to know _WHY_ I kidnapped you."

Judy simply looked at him waiting for the answer..

"Because I _NEED_ you. to help me get close to my last target, the one person responsible for my wife's death, who set her fate in stone, more than the prey who started the fire, or the judge that acquitted them…."

"….Dawn Bellwether" Judy realized.

"Very astute."

"No." Judy replied sternly.

"What?"

"I'm not going to help you kill." she stated adamantly

"Why not? She's guilty. She _deserves_ this." Brandon explained.

"It's cold blooded murder!" Judy exclaimed.

"You can't honestly tell me that's enough? That she deserves anything less." Brandon scoffed.

"I understand why you feel this way, I know she's responsible for this, but you can't just go around killing people even if they've wronged you." She said.

"But blood calls out for blood, if not then, then why not?" Brandon rebuked.

"Because….Because it makes you as bad as them." She defended.

"I've already _crossed_ that line! There _is_ no going back for me, even if I give up now, I will still be sentenced to execution or worse." he exclaimed.

"No…I won't let that happen." He replied, trying to reassure him.

"Why? Because of your faith in the vaunted system, a system you know to be corrupt and cruel."

"No Judy, our fates were written long before the stars came into being. We can only be who we are, what fate makes us out to be."

"I don't believe that, people change, sometimes better, sometimes worse. But we control what we do, what we choose." Judy replied.

"Not from what I've seen, not from what I already know." He replied.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

The van had pulled up to the burned out bar, the sign "Condemned" plastered across the front door. The four mammals inside the van stepped out, Kaiden, Kit, Vivian and Nick.

"Kit, check the door for triggers." Ordered Kaiden

Kit checked the door for signs of modification, running his paw down the door frame, using his augmented vision scanned the door for any signs of tampering or bobby trap triggers.

"Nothing." He stated.

Kaiden and Kit were the first to draw their side arms, Vivian and Nick followed suit. Kaiden considered kicking the door but reconsidered not wanting to make any noise; instead he forced the lock using the tip of his arm blade as a pry bar.

The wood popped and cracked giving way eventually giving them entrance, Kaiden with a sharp motion opened the door, stepped in and panned around the doorway with his gun. Stepping into the dark he disappeared except for the tap of his footsteps, Kit followed then Vivian and Nick.

After checking the immediate area, there didn't seem to be any traps or presence of any kind. The bar looked like pretty much any other, at least in design, the state of the building was another matter, the fire had pretty much burned everything to a crisp, even the heavy oak bar itself had a heavy char on it, the tables, booths all skeletons of their former selves, there was an open hole in the roof peering out into the sky above which was starting to turn blue as the coming morning sun was starting to rise.

They looked around the bar for any clues, other than a few scorched pictures, they didn't find anything. The group went up the nearby stairs to the loft apartment above. The furniture was in disarray, the place torn up, possibly due to vandals or vagrants who came after the building was condemned. They looked around; Nick happened upon a photo, it was of the bar downstairs, with Brandon tending polishing a glass, patrons around the bar and a hyena across from him passing out the drinks.

Nick looked at some of the other pictures, one was a couple, Brandon on one side the other was scorched, and barely recognizable, though Nick could make out the black tipped ears, he looked back to the bar photo and studied the patrons. The hyena had black tips on her ears, as if starting to realize something, he looked around at the other photos, one was a framed newspaper clipping, 'Local Business Owner Helps Beautify Neighborhood.' as the headline and the Hyena smiling at the camera holding a shovel, as Brandon is smiling holding a sapling, presumably about to be planted.

"His wife…was a pred." whispered Nick to himself looking with downcast eyes at the bar photo in his paws.

"Vivian." Calls out Nick.

"What is it?" she replied walking over to Nick.

"You said there was a tiger that went 'savage' right?"

"Yes."

"What happened exactly?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said there was a fire, but why didn't they just leave out the front door."

Vivian pondered the answer to the question, and then pulled out her phone, she went through the copy of the file she sent to herself, scrolling through to the witness statements.

"Oh my…."

"What?"

"According to this the prey mammals outside barricaded the door."

"They what?!"

"That's what it says, they barricaded the door for fear of being eaten. They claimed 'self-defense' in court."

"So you're telling me they locked those poor animals inside a building that was on fire." Nick replied.

"All because of a 'savage' predator, which terrified them." Commented Kaiden.

"But that doesn't justify locking people in a burning building." Added Nick.

"No…it does not. Even _IF_ the tiger was savage, it doesn't mean you can essentially lock him in a death trap along with a number of innocent bystanders." Replied Kaiden.

"I can only imagine how pissed Meeks was when everyone found out it was a conspiracy." Said Kit.

"Vivian, whatever happened to the perpetrators?" asked Nick

Vivian scrolled down the list and went wide eyed as she read the court documents, the summary judgement alone made her queasy.

"They were acquitted."

Kaiden spun around and looked at Vivian.

"I'm sorry, say that again?"

"They were acquitted, the judge in the case cited that at the time, it constituted 'extraordinary circumstances'."

"…And what moron came up with that conclusion?" replied Nick.

"Judge Evans." She answered

The rest all perked their ears in surprise.

"Judge Jeffrey Evans, as in the judge that just got assassinated." Kaiden requiring clarification.

"Yes."

"Let me see that?" requested Kaiden offering his paw.

Vivian handed the fox her phone, he immediately scrolled through the documents until he arrived upon what seemed like a 'Eureka' moment.

"It's a goddamn revenge case."

"I mean at its core, the politics came later, but this pangolin is trying to get back at those who wronged him."

"Wronged his wife." Corrected Nick.

"Yeah, the whole political angle was because it wasn't just these mammals, but a breakdown of the system."

"So where does Judy factor?" asked Kit.

"Possibly because maybe he blames her for her involvement, I don't know. I mean she did say a few things that were…a bit incendiary." Replied Kaiden.

"Carter, can you pull up what ever happened to the actual perps themselves, are they still around?"

"I can try."

Kaiden tossed Vivian her phone and she went to work on it, as they regrouped.

"Look, I understand this guy has a bone to pick with people, but to be honest, I don't really care, I just want to find Judy. I don't even want to _think_ about what he could be doing to her." pleaded Nick

"Look we will find her, we're close I can feel it." Replied Kaiden

"Oh god." Called out Vivian as she was looking at her phone.

The three turned to her awaiting an explanation.

"They're dead…their bodies were all found last month, incinerated. Apparently it was caused by thermite infused vests that were placed on them. Literally burning holes through them."

"Fuck." stated Kit flatly.

"Yeah, that's definitely not a pleasant way to go." Kaiden added.

Kaiden turned back to Nick, who had an even more worried expression on his face.

"Don't give me that face, I know ok, just let me think." He spoke softly.

"Carter!" barked Kaiden over his shoulder

"Is there anywhere else this guy would go?"

"I don't think so, he didn't have a job in the city, he worked here with his wife, they both lived up here. He didn't go anywhere generally." She explained.

"Really living up to his name." muttered Kit.

The group tried to ponder an answer to the mystery and Nick's perception of things kicked in, Nick for all his years as a con man, criminal and now cop, gave him a unique view of the world. Some would say it was 'out of the box' thinking. Sometimes his odd sense of perception gave him wacky ideas that Judy would find amusing, but often times it was very astute in its process and way.

"He was a mining engineer right, dug and built tunnels?" asked Nick as a general question.

"Yes he was." Reported Vivian.

"What's your point?" replied Kaiden.

"Well…..Does this place have a basement?" Nick replied plainly.

As if hitting a collective moment of clarity, the group immediately went back downstairs, looking through a couple doors they eventually found a descending staircase, they carefully walked down together. Kaiden taking point saw a drawstring to a light, he pulled it.

The light illuminated, surprisingly, this meant there was power on the circuit, but more than that, what it illuminated, the basement had old rotten storage boxes and crates, but the back wall of the brick was partially removed, creating a hole which lead into a nearby underground tunnel.

Kaiden looked at Nick.

"Well…Gold star for Wilde."

* * *

Chapter 11: Recovery

The four crept through the maze of tunnels, the break in the wall led to some kind of old tunnel system, some were old sewer drainage, others that led to subway tunnels, the displaced dirt and mold that had formed on the ground had foot trails in them, along with drag lines. Based on this Kaiden had figured that the pangolin had come down this way, dragging Judy unceremoniously like a child drags a teddy bear. It made sense that the pangolin might not have been able to carry Judy the whole way. But at the very least the trail was telling them they were going the right way.

The four predators were definitely catching the smell in the air with their snouts, but Nick was able to catch the scent of something else, Judy. He definitely knew her scent, living as long as they have together, Nick had encountered Judy's scent in all of its varieties from the stench of late night stake outs and bugaburger to the spicy and musky aroma of love making and everything in between. This scent though was the unfortunate familiar scent of fear from her, the one scent he hated. To Nick, Judy was a lot of things, happy, enthusiastic, compassionate, loving, and kind. But afraid, no that was something he never thought of her as being. Having seen her face down many things, Fear was not something that came easily to Judy Hopps. But there it was none the less, which meant whatever this pangolin was putting her though, was cutting right to the core.

Nick hadn't noticed but eventually felt the hair up on the back of his neck standing on end, his teeth gritted and a low growl echoed slightly off the walls of the tunnel. His protective instinct kicking in, 'Judy, please be safe.' He thought.

They continued through the tunnels for a while. Eventually happening upon tunnel lighting, it was different than the surrounding aged structure, it looked newer and functional, the wiring was exposed, but care was taken to secure it to the wall but not to any kind of permanence. The small dangling lights were illuminated which was markedly different because up this point, they had been walking through darkness.

Nick has motioned with his paw to follow him, he could sense they were getting close, in his mind this pangolin was going to pay, he wasn't sure how, but that he would make him pay.

"What are we following Nick?" asked Kaiden.

"Judy." Nick replied.

"Even down here? There are so many conflicting smells." Kaiden retorted

"Trust me, I can tell, it's her." Nick stated convinced.

"Hmm." Kaiden replied

They continued down the tunnels, being careful to keep an eye out for any trip wires or other booby traps. If this truly was the pangolin's hideout, though it was certainly deep underground, he clearly wasn't expecting any visitors.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

"Listen to me Brandon, you can't kill Bellwether." Judy spat

"Why not?!" he asked angrily.

"Because if you touch her, especially under the guise of 'teacher' all you will be doing is creating a martyr."

"That evil little lamb, a martyr?!" he replied in disbelief.

"Yes. There were people that helped get her in power, people who had a vested interest in pushing a pro-prey agenda. You touch her, all you will do is show people that preds ARE dangerous, and that they would cold bloodedly murder someone who is already paying her debt to society."

"How can you defend her? Especially after what she did to you personally, what she tried to do?"

"I'm not defending her or what she did, but I know how people think, as far as mammals of this city are concerned, she's guilty AND she's paying for that guilt in jail. Going after her now just escalates things."

Brandon was hearing the words but he was still packing his bag, with Judy not willing to help him, he had to change to Plan B.

"Brandon, please stop!" she begged.

"No!" he said in frustration.

He stopped and approached the rabbit grabbing her by the chin and making sure she was looking into his eyes.

"Don't you see, we ALL have to be punished, the guilt that each of us has must be ultimately judged and accurately punished. To let any ONE mammal off the hook is a betrayal to all those who accepted their punishments accordingly."

"But she WAS punished, she's in prison."

"That's NOT enough!" he replied coldly.

"And who are YOU to decide that!?" she exclaimed.

"The one who was victimized." He fired back.

"It was because of her that my life was destroyed, that my wife is dead, that countless others that were affected and STILL affected by her actions."

"Sentencing her to languish in prison, in the relative safety of other prey animals, is exactly what she wants. And the best that she could have hoped for."

"But she deserves a truly just punishment to fit her crime."

"That's _still_ not for you to decide."

"That may be so, but I am the one who is taking the charge." He replied.

"You'll never get into the prison, even WITH my help, they would never let you in with anything that could be a weapon." She said dismissively.

Brandon stepped back and paced for a moment as if considering something, he grinned to himself, as if suddenly realizing he missed something. He turned back to Judy

"Ya know, I sometimes forget that other people don't think the way I do, that the way my brain works now, I often forget just _when_ I am most of the time."

"Don't you mean 'where you are'?"

"I meant what I said." He replied.

"We didn't have that conversation yet." He replied albeit cryptically.

"What?" Judy asked confused.

"I'm not going to the prison Judy."

"Why not?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Because that's not where Dawn Bellwether is…" he replied with a smirk.

"What are you talking about?" she replied shaking her head.

"Dawn Bellwether hasn't been in prison for over 2 months, the lamb you have there now is just a double that's standing in for her, the guards who knew her were transferred, and the ones there now just assume the double IS her."

"Assuming that's true, how could YOU know that?"

"Because…you told me, or rather you WILL tell me." He said with a smile.

"Brandon…" Judy scoffed finally having enough.

"YOU CAN'T SEE THE FUTURE!" she screamed.

"It's impossible, nobody can. You're just delusional. You've had a lot of bad things happen to you, unfair things. But that doesn't mean you have superpowers!" she exclaimed.

"So you don't believe me?"

"No, I don't, because it's impossible, it's just impossible."

There was an uncomfortable awkward silence; the two of them just stared at each other, reflections bouncing back and forth.

"That is what they said about you." The pangolin finally replied.

"They said that you doing what you do, being who you are, was impossible."

"But here you are."

"We live in a world of infinite complexity, infinite possibility, where there isn't such a thing as impossible."

"Brandon, you have to accept the reality of your life, the reality of what has happened, and who you are…and…." She explained.

"Pshhh, that's your father talking." He interrupted.

"You don't know my father." She stated flatly.

"Yes, Yes I do…or rather, I will."

She shook her head in frustration. Brandon grabbed a blue notebook off the nearby desk, rolled in his paw, she held it like a baton.

"The mammal who wrote this play believed in equality for ALL, not for SOME, not for MOST, not for those who are deserving or can purchase it but for ALL, regardless of who you are."

"Brandon, I wrote that when I was nine, NINE YEARS OLD." She pleaded

"'Out of the mouths of babes.' Even at such a young age, you had the insight, the vision of truth, you realized even then the world had practiced a different set of rules then it preached, you realized even then that inequality abounded and even then, you resolved yourself to change it. That's WHY you are where you are, and have done the things you have done, Judy."

"And it's why before this is all through, why you WILL do what you will do. Because for all of us, for true equality, You Judy, YOU, are the one who will change the world, along with that fox of yours."

"I know you don't believe me Judy….but you will. You will, you'll even come to depend on me in the war that is to come."

"What war?" she asked confused.

"Indeed."

* * *

Brandon tilted his head and went wide eyed as if seeing something. The sound of gunfire rang out and he dove behind the table. Judy turned to look in the direction of the gun fire. She heard the sound of pawsteps rushing up to her

"Judy!" called out Nick.

"Nick!" she called back.

Nick walked up and frantically cut her loose with his knife. The moment she was out of the restraints she jumped into him, squeezing him in a hug practically as hard as she could. Kaiden, Kit and Vivian went to the other side of the table that Brandon had dove behind.

"Freeze!" the three ordered.

"I don't think so" he replied.

"See this is a Deadman's switch, I drop this and we all die." He replied.

Brandon stood up while Kaiden, Kit and Vivian still had their guns trained on him. He was holding a silver pistol gripped remote in his paw.

"I let this go, this entire area collapses. I've rigged Panther explosive packages all around these tunnels."

"High-powered demolition charges? You would you twisted son of a bitch." Commented Vivian.

"It's a simple matter of survival." He replied.

Kaiden and Kit lowered their weapons

"Stand down, Agent Carter." Ordered Kaiden.

"But…." She replied frustrated.

"Carter, If we pop him and he drops that remote," Kaiden explained.

"Smart fox." He replied.

Vivian lowers her weapon as well, Brandon takes this opportunity to back away from the group.

"What do you want?" asked Kaiden.

"Just a head start." He replies.

"Yeah, there's not a chance in hell we are going to let that happen." Muttered Kit.

"It's not like you have a choice." Brandon fires back.

Judy stepped forward, at first Nick pawed at her shoulder but she patted it to let him know it was alright.

"Brandon, listen to me, it doesn't have to go down like this. We can get you help, please, let me help you."

"The only help I want is to get to Dawn Bellwether."

"I can't help you with that, I told you."

"Then we have nothing further to say."

"I doubt that very much." She said sadly.

Kaiden stepped into the conversation at this point.

"Ok, let's say we let you go, what's to stop you from blowing us up anyway."

"I give you my word." He replied.

"I'm going to need something a bit more concrete then that."

"Judy, you KNOW what we've talked about, you KNOW I didn't bring you here to hurt you." He pleaded.

"Dawn Bellwether hurt me, she hurt a lot of people, she's going to continue to do so unless she's stopped."

"What the hell is this pangolin going on about, Bellwether is in prison!" snapped Vivian

"Judy, you know what I've seen, what's coming, just please keep an open mind. Remember the box, take it with you, its contents belong to you anyways."

"That's it, this bat shit crazy pangolin is going down!" exclaimed Carter.

Vivian raised her weapon.

"Carter, No!" "Vivian!" "Snowball, Stop!" yelled the group.

Just as she was about to take the shot a powerful explosion rocked the tunnel system, knocking everyone off their feet.

"You crazy pangolin" shouted Vivian as she was trying to get back to her feet.

"This wasn't me, someone must have set off one of the packages, it sounds like it was from the inlet pipes above, we have to get out!"

Right as he said that a small bit of water seemed to trickle in from the nearby walls, it didn't make much of a noise but the rate at which was crossing the floor was cause for alarm.

"You have to leave, Go GO!" cried out Brandon as he ran out one of the tunnel doors and disappeared.

"We have to go after him!" exclaimed Carter

"No, we have to get the hell out of here!" replied Kaiden.

"Wait, the files, we have to take those with us." Insisted Judy.

Kaiden and Kit quickly went over to the box and opened it, it contained a stack of papers and folders, which surely would be destroyed by immersion in water.

"Kit, find me some plastic, anything."

Kit went through the nearby storage that Brandon had hauled down here, he made a small living space with the storage pieces, finding a box of kitchen trashbags, Kit ripped open the box and pulled a few plastic bags from the roll.

The two agents quickly put the files in the trash bags, squeezing the air out before tying them off, repeating it twice with another bag for safety. Grabbing Brandon's duffle bag and forcing them inside, zipping up the bag, Kaiden slung it over his shoulder.

"Ok let's get out of here, and NOW!" exclaimed the fox, paying attention to the fact the water was already pooling at their ankles.

The group looked at the tunnel that Brandon took and the tunnel that they came down not sure which way to go.

"Sheesh, all we need now is a ticking clock." Kit commented sarcastically

The speakerbox on the wall spoke.

* * *

" _Alert…Alert…..Panther...Explosives….are…now…activated…All…Personnel…should…retreat…to…minimum…safe…distance….immediately…Time…till…detonation…Ten…minutes…._ "

* * *

Kaiden looked at Kit as if blaming him.

"I know, I know, I regretted it the moment I said it." Kit winced.

"Ten minutes, it took over fifteen to get down here."

"You think we can cover that ground in that amount of time?" asked Nick.

"We're going to have to, let's book it." Said Kaiden.

They took the right passage and ran as fast as they could down the tunnels, desperately trying not to make a mistake, a wrong turn in this maze would mean certain death.

"Can't we just disable the detonator?" asked Vivian as they ran.

"No, they are connected in a ring, it only takes one to set them all off, and Kaiden and me couldn't find and disable all of them in 10 hours, let alone 10 minutes." Exclaimed Kit.

They continued to run through the tunnels, being slowed down by the increasing depth of the water which was now up to their shins.

They came skidding to a halt when they reached a section of tunnel that was lower than the section they were in, in essence putting it deeper underwater.

"Shit!" exclaimed Kaiden.

"How far to the junction, K?"

"If I recall only about 100 feet, but remember that will put us in the sewers."

"We don't have time to find a way around."

"Alright folks, we got to swim."

"Woah, wait a second." Vivian stepped back.

Kit turned around and saw that Vivian was a bit trepidatious about getting in the water

"Don't tell me you don't know how to swim?" he asked in disbelief.

At first not wanting to answer, she fidgeted around.

"No, ok, No I don't. I always figured there would be time." She replied defensively.

Kit huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Get on." He said thumbing at his back.

"What?!" she responded in surprise holding a paw to her mouth.

"We don't have time to see you flop around, now get on my back and hang on, do as I tell you."

* * *

" _Alert…Alert…..Panther...Explosives….are…now…activated…All…Personnel…should…retreat…to…minimum…safe…distance….immediately…Time…till…detonation…Seven…minutes…._ "

* * *

She still hesitated; Kit not wasting any time grabbed and flipped her onto his back.

"Now hold on." He ordered.

She held onto him like a backpack. The four of them stood near where the bend in the pipe was.

"Carrots, you ready for this?"

"Yeah, let's go."

"Alright, on three." Called out Kaiden.

"Three." They exclaimed and jumped into the water.

There was already a current in just the small section of tunnel and unfortunately it was pushing them back towards the way they came, they had to swim hard against it, every now and then bobbing their heads above to catch a breath, each time the surface being closer to the top of the pipe.

Eventually they reached the junction; the doorway into the sewers, by this point the water had now reached close to the top of the pipe, with only enough room to fit their heads.

The four stop to catch their collective breath. Kaiden leans down and feels the water on the other side of the door, the current is even stronger. Coming back to the group he apprised them of the situation.

"Ok, we got a problem, the tunnel right outside had a very strong current, and it's wide, which means we have to cross the gap to the other side and make the next junction, good news is, it's in the same direction of the current."

"And the bad news?" asked Judy.

"The bad news is, that current is so strong, if anyone doesn't get to the other side by the time they get pulled to the junction, they'll miss it, and there is no swimming against that current and I don't know where it will dump you out if anywhere. It could dead end somewhere for all I know."

The group all showed looks of worry on their faces, Kaiden basically just described a certain death situation, what other reaction could one expect.

"Fine, just do it." Replied Judy.

"Ok, deep breaths everyone." instructed Kaiden.

The group all take a huge gulp of air and plunge themselves into the water, through the doorway. Kaiden's description was an understatement, the current was indeed strong, swimming even perpendicularly was painful, the loud rush of water, the beating of the torrent of water pouring down on them.

Judy managed to swim ahead, her strong leg muscles of her rabbit heritage coming in handy for this task, she looked back for a moment to see Nick focusing on her as he kicked as hard as he could. She tried to grab for his paw, but he pushed at her feet to keep going. Judy, then Nick, then Kaiden with Kit lagging behind trying to carry Vivian through the water, Vivian was terrified, clinging onto Kit like she was trying to burrow into his fur. She was well aware that if she lost grip she would have no ability to recover and die.

Judy managed to reach the other side, with Nick right behind her, they ducked under the junction door way and reached the surface on the other side. When they broke the surface, they exhaled loudly, coughing and hacking up water, they floated over to the nearby stair and sat for a moment.

Judy and Nick were panting as they looked back towards the door way. The others had not surfaced yet.

"Nick…Nick!...The others…." She pointed.

She realized that it was taking too long and Judy stumbled back towards the water, Nick reached out to stop her. The two froze as two forms emerged from the water, the loud exhales and coughs.

Kaiden and Kit with Vivian emerged from the water.

"Holy shit, I don't want to do that again!" exclaimed Kit.

"We got to keep going." Called out Kaiden.

They clambered out of the water up the nearby stair, at the landing above the group took a few moments to collect their wits, Kit carefully put Vivian on the ground. She was trembling madly, the combined fear and low temperature of the water.

"Hey, hey look at me." Comforted Kit with a smile.

Vivian looked squarely into Kit's eyes, she didn't say a word.

"It's ok, you made it! You're going to be fine." He said with a smile.

Still speechless, she leaned forward and hugged him, Kit at first being surprised by the act, returned it.

"Hey, you're alive, you fine." He comforted again, a trembling arctic fox shaking in his arms.

"Thank you." Said whispered, her voice almost breaking.

"It's ok, Vivian." He consoled with a caring smile.

"You can call me Snowball if you want."

"Ok…Snowball" he replied with a chuckle.

* * *

" _Alert…Alert…..Panther...Explosives….are…now…activated…All…Personnel…should…retreat…to…minimum…safe…distance….immediately…Time…till…detonation…Four…minutes…._ "

* * *

"We got to go!" called out Kaiden.

The group picked themselves up and went into the higher dry tunnel. The wet squish of their clothes as they ran echoed throughout the tunnel and the distant white noise of the water.

Within seconds the water had made its way to the tunnel at the top of the stairs and started to flood, Kaiden could see the water coming up into the tunnel, luckily they made their way to the nearby ramps that Brandon had built and ascended them.

They finally managed to get to the last tunnel, running towards the break in the wall underneath the bar.

* * *

" _Alert…Alert…Panther...Explosives….are…now…activated…All…Personnel…should…retreat…to…minimum…safe…distance….immediately…Time…till…detonation…Two…minutes…._ "

* * *

The announcement echoed through the speakers in the tunnels counting down. They finally managed to reach the break in the wall and emerged into the basement, quickly ascending the stairs, the rapid heavy pawsteps clanking on the old wooden stairs. They managed to get out of the aging bar and got outside, they piled into the car, Kaiden started the vehicle its engine roaring to life, jamming the gear selector into drive and practically putting his foot through the floorboard.

"Does anyone know how long!?" asked Judy.

"I'm running a clock in my head, we got about sixty seconds." Replied Kaiden.

"K, drive away from this street there could be a tunnel underneath."

The car lurched forward, it's tires screeching as they tried to grip the street. They sped away from the area trying to get away from the blast and likely subsequent cave-in. Kaiden finally pulled the car off onto the nearby sidewalk but kept the engine running.

"Twenty seconds."

"Any particularly inspirational last words?" asked Kit.

Kaiden stopped and looked deep in thought for a moment then turned to open his mouth. Several moments past with his mouth agape.

"Yeah, I got nothing." He shook his head.

"Five…four…three…two…one…"

Deep resounding bangs were heard from under the ground, even though they were feet below the street the blasts could be heard and more importantly felt. Like a bass drum being hit over and over. The abandoned buildings and business across the street from them, collapsed into the now vacant space caused by the collapsing tunnels below, it appeared as if the buildings were just swallowed up by the earth.

The group turned in absolute bewilderment.

"Holy….Shit…." muttered someone.

Within seconds, a hole appeared two blocks wide, running the length of the district all the way to the water's edge at the other end. The entire tunnel system underneath collapsed and the buildings and constructions above collapsed on top of them.

"You think he made it out?" asked Vivian.

"There is no way in hell he made it." commented Kit.

"Yeah, maybe." Replied Kaiden unsure of what to think.

"Good." Nick said his venom in his voice.

Judy simply looked on in silence, feeling a twinge of sadness.

* * *

 _Weeks Later…_

 _"This Fabienne Growley and Peter Moosebridge for ZNN, Special Report, as reported by Officer Judy Hopps some weeks ago, the identity of the terrorist known only as 'Teacher' was a pangolin named Brandon Meeks, a deranged and disgruntled ex-mining engineer for Takashi Mining Group, who was dismissed citing 'Emotional Instability', the deranged Mr. Meeks' reasons for causing this wave of terror was seemingly due to his anti-predator beliefs, Mr. Meeks operating under the guise of a predator, wreaked havoc in the hopes of generating and increasing the already turbulent predator/prey dynamic in the city. His actions culminated in the kidnapping of Officer Hopps and the destruction of a large part of south Gnu York. We at ZNN attempted to interview Officer Hopps to get her side of the story but she declined any comment. We here at ZNN wish for Officer Hopps to make a full recovery after her episode with the terrorist. And now for a report on the current status of the Gnu York disaster zone, we go to Peter Moosebridge."_

 _–_

 _"Thank you, Fabienne. Yes the hole created by the detonation of a large number of demolition charges has proved to be a tough challenge for the ZPD and the salvage crews contracted by the city. According to an inside source at the ZPD, the terrorist was in the tunnel system with Officer Hopps shortly before the detonation, and it is generally believed that he perished within the blast, killed by his own bombs as it were. Of course salvage crews are still searching for the body of terrorist himself. With more on this story as it develops, this is ZNN…"_

* * *

 _Zootopia…Downtown…at a café near the ZPD._

Nick and Judy were enjoying lunch, taking their time, Chief Bogo has offered her light duty because of her ordeal, but she of course as always simply went back to work as she always did. It seemed the terror threat was over, and that life was returning to normal, the people walking around, going to work, going to play, living life.

All the 'things' that were destroyed would be rebuilt in time, all the people killed would be mourned and memorialized, but the sad fact is, life would resume, life moves on. The likes of Paxton Mobley would continue doing what he does best. Originally wanting to protest his false arrest to get Judy Hopps kicked off the force, the fact that she was kidnapped had earned her a reprieve from his political fire. It seems attempting to defame and attack a kidnap survivor of the very terrorist who was attacking the city doesn't look good in the eyes of the people. But no matter, Judy was aware that the likes of Paxton or someone else would always be out there.

Nick must have seen that Judy was lost in thought because his poked her nose to get her attention.

"Boop." He said with a smile.

"What you thinkin' Fluff?" he asked.

"It's a lie you know, what the news is saying." She replied perching her chin on her paw, her arm on the table.

"You need to stop thinking about it." He replied

"I just keep thinking he was right, he said this would happen."

"Carrots, look I know you told me, what four or five times, but how many times do I have to tell you. He's crazy." Nick commentated while circling his paw by his head.

"What if he's not, Nick?"

"And what, he can see the future? Let me put it this way, If he can see the future then why didn't he see his own death? Moreover why didn't he take steps to prevent it? Why was it SO important that he tell you?"

Judy didn't answer, Nick already thought she was crazy for believing him but to repeat the warnings, Nick wasn't ready to listen. She craned her head towards the TV, a sullen look on her muzzle.

"I never bought that, by the way."

Judy spun to face Nick.

"Bought what?"

"That he _NEEDED_ to tell you, like why? Why would he need to let you know these things, for what purpose? Something definitely was going on there."

"Nick, could you promise me something?"

"What's that fluff?"

"Just promise me, if anything ever happens to me…That you'll stay good." She pleaded.

"What?!" he replied shocked.

"Look, I know that being a cop was my dream, and even if you fall out of it, just promise me no matter what you end up doing that you will just stay good."

"Carrots? Where is this coming from?"

"Please Nick, just promise me."

"I promise. I promise. Now please tell me what's going on, you're scaring me here, fluff."

"I just…want to know you'll be ok. This whole thing has just kind of reminded me, of my own mortality, that's all."

"Yeah we think we have all the time in the world. Life is short and…" said Nick

"…and for some tragically so." She said, immediately realizing Nick was echoing Brandon's words, or maybe he had echoed Nick's.

"Hey, how did you know I was going to say that?"

"Just a guess." She replied a look of silent, sad confirmation.

"I promise Judy, you have my word."

"And one more thing…I…I want to tell my parents."

"About us?"

"Yes, about us, even if they heard it on television, I still think the details should come from us."

"Wow…thank you." Nick replied, feeling a happy.

"I'm sorry." she said

"What?" He replied a bit confused.

"I'm sorry Nick." She repeated.

"What for?" he asked.

"It should have come A LOT sooner, you deserved better."

"Look, Judy, I know you have your reasons, I understand."

"No, Nick, it's no excuse. I was afraid of my family, of my parents, but in letting myself be afraid I was betraying the one I love most."

"I don't think of it as betrayal, but I understand where you coming from."

"Either way, I'm sorry."

"I appreciate that Judy, and thank you."

"I've arranged with Bogo to take a few days off next week, and I figure we could go up there and tell them then."

"Wow that soon."

"Yeah, I figure it's long past due. I know the last time it was more of a meet and greet, and I know my brothers and sisters liked you, but this time its…."

"its 'Welcome to the family time'?" Nick surmised.

"Exactly." She confirmed

"Well Fluff, you know me, always by your side, no matter what."

"Yeah, I love that you're always there."

"Hey Team WildeHopps right?" said Nick offering his Paw.

"Team WildeHopps forever." She replied taking his paw into her own, intertwining their fingers.

Though she didn't say it, Brandon's words echoed through her mind "The war that is to come." She tried her best to hide it from him, but she knew, in as much as she could, she knew those words had an air of truth to them. She didn't know when, she didn't know how. But she was realizing that she did believe Brandon. That some part of her believed every word even though she didn't want to admit it, even to herself. That something was coming, something dark on the horizon.

* * *

 _"How far are you prepared to go? How much are you prepared to risk? How many people are you prepared to sacrifice for victory? Are you willing to die friendless, alone, deserted by everyone? Because that's what may be required of you in the war that is to come."_

* * *

Chapter 12: It hurts when you do this…

 _Zootopia…In an Undisclosed Location…Weeks Earlier…_

Brandon groggily awoke, it was dark, he felt himself on a hard springs and a mattress, like a cot. He opened his eyes to see nearby light casting in a series of bars on the wall, he turned his head and looked, he was in some kind of cell.

He rolled over off the bed and to his feet, walking over to the bars, gripping them with his paws. He flexed on them to feel their sturdiness.

'Solid' he thought.

Looking out from the bars was an open space, with other cells, and other prisoners yet surprisingly the cell block was quiet.

The occasional gate clatter in the distance, hearing footsteps approach he retreated back away from the bars. Two figures came into his view, a Fox and a Weasel.

"What?" he muttered bewildered.

"Officer Wilde?"

The figure stared for a bit at him menacingly before answering.

"No." he replied with a bit of venom in his voice.

The weasel stepped forward.

"Allow me to introduce myself, the name is Sidney….Sidney Rid–"

"Ridgeway." Brandon finished.

This got a bemused expression from the weasel.

"That's correct, have we met before?" the weasel asked pondering.

"Never before this day." Replied the pangolin.

"So the rumors _ARE_ true." The weasel smiled very menacingly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." denied Brandon.

"I know who you are Mr. Meeks."

"So is this some kind of prison for bad mammals such as myself."

"Not exactly. Our residents aren't exactly ALL criminals."

"So…it's you then." Brandon replied cryptically.

"Me?"

"Yes, the one from the dreams."

"Dreams, you say? What kind of dreams?" he responded with an air of oily slickness.

"I suspect you already know."

"Know? No. But we have our theories."

"Just get on with it, tell me what you want."

"I want _IT_." Sid said plainly

"What are you talking about?" Brandon asked.

"You already know." Dis replied not believing the pangolin's false display of ignorance

"No I really don't, you'll have to be more specific." Brandon clarified.

Sidney took a breath and huffed, displaying his grin on the exhale.

"That's not how this works, I ask questions, and you give answers, and if I don't like those answers…"

Sidney reached into his pocket retrieving a remote holding it up. Brandon looked back puzzled.

"Perhaps you're aware of the collar around your neck. You see while you were unconscious you were fitted with a special collar, a _remarkable_ invention really." he explained taking great relish.

Brandon reached up to his neck and felt it, it was indeed a collar, of metal and fiber and there was a box or some kind of attachment to the collar.

"What is the meaning of this?!" he demanded.

"By entering commands into this remote device I can produce pain in _any_ part of your body at various levels of intensity."

"You will understand much more clearly if I show you, please forgive me." He replied, pushing some buttons on the remote.

The collar shocked Brandon with a sudden and intense jolt, he instinctively gasped and yelped and almost felt to his knees instantly.

Sidney leaned close as Brandon grabbed at the collar, a look of amazement and wonder on the weasel's face.

" _Surprising, isn't it?_ Most mammals feel at first they can steel themselves against it, but they're so completely unprepared for the intensity of the pain."

"That was the lowest setting by the way." He informed with a sense of wonder and amazement.

Brandon grabbed the collar and gasped, feeling at it, giving it a small tug, he could tell he wouldn't be able to rip it off.

"What…what do you want?"

"I told you. I want _it_. I want what you saw."

"Saw what?! What are you talking about?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about." Sidney said getting angry.

"I want the rest of _this_." Sidney reached into his lapel and pulled out a containment vessel.

The containment vessel was a cylinder metal on each end with tempered glass running the length of it, inside seemingly suspended between the two magnetic plates was a small sphere, liquid, metallic and gold. It's sheen would catch the oddest reflection of light and objects, but strangely not people.

Brandon's eyes went wide when he saw it, like a ghost or phantasm out of his nightmares, he lurched backwards until he hit the back wall, scared more of it then even the shock collar.

"No. No." he gasped as he heard the distant but familiar whispers coming from the orb.

"Where is the rest of it?" Sidney demanded.

"Rest?"

Sidney held up the remote indicating he was about to activate it.

"I don't know what you mean, 'rest of it'. Isn't that it?"

Sidney hesitated and instead explaining.

"This….This was found in the Nocturnal District about 40 years ago by my…'predecessors ', they thought it was an artifact for the longest time until about 25 years ago, one intelligent mammal among them realized it was the key to inscrutable power, the ultimate power. Forged from the energy of life itself, in fact if it wasn't for certain 'outside influences' the world would be a much different place today."

"But alas like anything, there are always meddlesome trouble makers who seek to keep mammals of power from achieving, so they eventually defeated them, but not before the council was able to secure, this."

Sidney motioned with the containment vessel in his paw.

"This is a smaller piece of a larger one but from what I have been told, that also was in turn from an even larger whole."

"So what do you need me for?"

"Well, I read about your 'experience' in that cave in."

"What's to read, according to the company, it was a mistake made by the engineer…me."

"I think we both know that's not true." Smiled Sidney.

"I think you saw something, or more accurately, you _encountered_ something, something very old, very powerful and not of our design."

Brandon stood silent; the very description conjured up old memories.

"I'll take your silence as an affirmation."

"So what do you want?" Brandon asked, reasonably guessing the answer.

Sidney approached the bars, placing his head against the space.

"I want….the rest of it." He replied, his sharp teeth glimmering in the cell light.

Brandon's revulsion turned to an expression of fear.

"Why? Why in god's name would you want such a thing? Why would you endeavor to mess with something that is so far beyond us?"

"Because it's the key."

"The key to what?"

"The future." Sidney answered cryptically.

Brandon mulled it over a bit, rocking against himself.

"You need to listen to me, whatever you think it is, it's not. It's something powerful yes, but alive, it thinks, it….listens and watches. If you think you are capable of controlling it, you can't, none of us can."

Sidney huffed dismissively. Brandon stood up and stared at Sidney with diligent eyes.

"Why can't you comprehend the danger you're putting us all in?"

"I remember you now, so many images and visions to remember, it gets jumbled but I remember you now." He explained flustered.

"You didn't always used to be this way….Salvador."

Sidney's expression changed to one of amazement, then anger.

"How DARE you!" he replied, activating the shock collar.

Brandon winced as the collar shocked him again, he cried out in pain and dropped to his knees, then flat on the floor, still gagging on the pain. Sidney held the button for several moments before letting off.

"Never…NEVER call me by that name!" he demanded.

Piberius watching this entire exchange raised an eyebrow. Sidney crouched down to look directly into Brandon's eyes.

"If it gave you the power, if you truly CAN see the future, then you _KNOW_ what I am going to do to you, what I _WILL_ do to you to get the answers I seek. You can save yourself a lot of pain and anguish if you simply tell me what I want to know."

"Now who's lying?" Brandon replied weakly.

"What?"

"You already have the answer, you already know. You're not torturing me because you need to know something, you're doing it because you like it."

"It makes you feel good about yourself to see you causing someone pain, you take perverse satisfaction in the application of it. It makes you feel superior when you break someone and turn them, making them as twisted and dark as you."

"And you do it because you think that's power, power that will protect you, that it will provide you the strength. The strength you never had, the strength you WISHED you had."

"It must feel good to have that power, but no matter how much you have, you will never change things, you will never forgive yourself."

Sidney brought up the remote again and was about to press the button.

"One more word and I will turn this on and leave you in agony all night."

"You couldn't save her Sidney, you were just a boy, no one blamed you, but I know you blamed yourself, you always blamed yourself."

Sidney's finger twitched but didn't press the button.

"Searching for this will only bring death, it won't give you the power to fix your mistakes and it won't give you peace. Trust me, I know."

They sat in silence for several moments, the pregnant pause of whether or not Sidney was going to push the button. Instead he just stood up, looking down at Brandon.

"You _WILL_ tell me what I want to know…or you will die."

Sidney walked off, with Piberius in tow, the two said nothing as they walked away from his cell. They passed several other cells on the way back to the elevator. The cells were filled with other mammals, some looking as though they have been here longer than others, all of them had shock collars affixed to their necks. Some of the cells were padded and had ballistic glass in front of the bars and sound proofed. Some of the occupants thrashed, receiving shocks, others were docile, cowering in corners. Even still others had tugged at their fur creating bald spots. Or they scarred themselves with their claws or a sharp object. Some were banging their heads against the padded walls in a soft but repetitious manner and sobbing to themselves, at the voices.

Brandon being the new arrival had not had his clothes changed, but the rest wore cool blue garb, like scrubs, with the word "Patient #" followed by an alpha-numeric series on top of the left pectoral area. It had the look of a prison and the feel of a hospital.

* * *

Sidney and Piberius got in the elevator, Sidney sliding his card and pressing the floor to their next destination.

"So you're unusually quiet." Commented Sidney.

"I don't like coming back here. You know that."

"Come now m'boy, this is the place of your birth, the well spring of your origin. Take pride."

"Yeah, it explains a lot." The fox muttered.

Sidney simply chuckled mirthfully.

"By the way, how _DID_ you manage to get the pangolin out of those tunnels before they blew?" the fox asked.

"Ms. Rosanov." The weasel answered cryptically.

"The lioness?"

"Of course, M'boy. Remember she has a talent for being discreet." Sidney smiled.

"Being able to turn invisible of course helps." Commented Piberius.

"Yes, after the first bombing, I dispatched her immediately to find out the source of the trouble maker. As you well know the next phase is coming soon and I don't need any loose cannons messing things up for me."

"So why didn't you eliminate him when she found him?"

"Well several reasons, the way he spoke and referred to certain events gave me pause, that he may be the key to unlocking our ultimate goals here. But moreover, his immediate actions could prove useful in the coming phase."

"So you still plan to go through with it?" asked Piberius.

"Of course, this fair city has had its run of bad luck lately, and the people are searching for a means to an end. I mean look at it, the 'savage case' the 'plague incident', designer drugs, hoodlums and thieves not to mention terrorists running the streets, the people are ready for change." He explained.

"A change that I will provide for them." The weasel finished with a flourish.

"Assuming Dr. Doran can solve the problem." Added Piberius

"Yes, yes m'boy, I have all confidence in the good doctor." Smiled Sidney.

"Especially since she has a vested interest." He added he smiled sinisterly.

* * *

The elevator reached its destination, making a 'ping' sound as to its arrival, the doors opened and they walked out onto the level. Leaving the relatively short hallway they went through double doors into a the open laboratory beyond. On one side of the lab was a series of test chambers and cells much like the cells down on the main prison floor. On the other was a series of tanks, with a greenish liquid inside similar to the ones found in the illuminati complex that were under the city. Between them were the large array of lab equipment, tables, chairs, workstations, a veritable treasure trove of the finest lab equipment ever created. Most with the Kai Ren Medical logo on the side.

Dr. Doran, the lab coated water deer was busy reading and signing off on her staff members reports, when they walked up behind her.

Piberius cleared his throat loudly to announce their presence, which startled the good doctor, turning around.

"Ah yes, Mr. Ridgeway." She addressed respectfully.

"Doctor Doran." Replied Sidney with a sly grin.

"I'm assuming you're here for a status report?"

"Oh, I was in the area checking on our new 'acquisition' and I figured it was a good excuse to visit you." He smiled cooly.

Doctor Doran blinked several times and gulped, the only thing more repulsive to her about Sidney was when he was 'trying' to be courteous and kind, for she knew it was nothing more than a vapid façade and one wonders why he even attempts to do so.

"Yes….well if you follow me, I can give you an update on what we have been working on."

The three walked over to the left side of the room near the cells, they were all reinforced, padded, and sound proofed, the occasional bang against the wall coming from the first, but for the most part, almost complete silence from them from the outside.

"As you know we have been continuing the 'Night Howler' project, by refining the imperatives of the original serum, we considered, 'what was the serum accessing to cause its effects?'"

"When the 2.0 serum came into production we had simply refined down some of the more deleterious effects and rendered a wholly synthetic version."

"Starting with version 3.0 we have manage to render down specific serums for specific effects."

They walked up to the first chamber, it contained a grizzly bear who was clawing up the room, banging around, and generally appearing savage.

"Code name: Red Rage, this version offers enhanced strength, resistance to pain, however it also produces intense sense of aggression, borderline uncontrollable. We are working to overcome this hindrance."

Dr. Doran saw Sidney offering a slightly impressed expression on his face but Piberius however looking a bit disturbed.

"Moving on." She replied, getting their attention to the next chamber.

This chamber contained a cheetah who was moving quickly around the room, almost a blur, jumping around, testing the room's limits.

"Code Name: Blue Rush, this version of the serum elicits celerity effects, as well as stimulating the pleasure centers of the brain, producing a higher endurance effect. However this also causes the user to desire constant movement until they are exhausted."

They move onto the next chamber, contained inside is an oryx, simply sitting on the floor, pressing his hooves against his head covering his ears as hard as he can, and squeezing his eyes shut tightly, Pleading 'please stop' over and over again, seemingly in pain.

"Code name: Green Sentinel, this serum provides hypersensitivity, all the senses are enhanced to super mammalian levels, however we are still working out how to allow the user to attenuate the effects for comfort and usability."

Walking to the next chamber its lights are dimmer than the rest but is empty with no one inside.

"Code Name: Yellow Luster…."

"Uh, did you lose someone doctor?" asked Piberius.

"Oh no, here let me get that."

The Doctor types some commands into the nearby panel which causes the glass to polarize and display thermal emissions on it. All of a sudden a lioness appears on the screen.

"What?" Sidney remarks.

"As I was saying, Code Name: Yellow Luster, causes the cells of the user to exhibit gradation in the refractive index, and frequency of light, which normally is seen only in meta materials, thus causing…"

"Invisibility?" asked Piberius.

"Yes." She answered.

"Amazing doctor." Sidney replied with a perverse smile.

"However, there is a side effect."

"Such as?"

"We um….can't bring her back." She answered reluctantly.

"You mean she's….." uttered Piberius pointing with his paw.

"Stuck…Permanently invisible."

"Have you finally done it? Unlocked a genetic key?" asked Sidney with an excited smile.

"No sir, it's still chemical, the invisibility is caused by the serum, essentially staining the cells with the spectrum shift, and we are unable to reverse the process, we essentially need to develop a 'solvent' if you will to break down the serum and return her to visibility."

"Ahh…a shame, I thought you had done it." Sidney replied disappointed.

"We're still working on it sir." she replied coldly.

The lioness came over to the glass and pawed at it weakly, caressing the glass in front of Piberius. The fox winced for a second, he could feel her staring straight into his eyes.

"Can she see us?" asked the fox motioning towards the lioness.

"No, the inside is polarized so the test subjects can't see out, the light is simply refracted back so all they see is a white wall."

"For normal mammals though." He added.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you said something about the gradients and frequency of light, so do you think she is seeing the world in a different spectrum?"

Dr Doran puzzled that for a moment and then went over to the comm panel, activating it.

"Patient A062, can you see us?"

At first she kept pawing but then answered.

"Yes." Her voice was soft and sweet, yet raspy with burden and exhaustion.

Dr. Doran let off the comm button for a moment "I'm sorry, I didn't realize she could see out."

"Why is she doing that?" Piberius

"Patient A062, why are you touching the glass?" Dr. Doran asked.

Taking a moment again before answering.

"Because his light is different." She answered cryptically.

"What?" he replied.

"She probably is seeing refractions of light along your fur differently or something similar. Pay no mind." She explained.

"Wait." He insisted.

Piberius walked up to the glass and clicked the panel.

"How is my light different?" he asked.

She looked at him but didn't' say anything. He repeated the question. Still nothing.

"Mr. Piberius, she's in an alternate state of mind, I really wouldn't take anything the test subjects say seriously." Dr. Doran suggested

Piberius thought about it for a moment and seemingly nodded in agreement. He was about to turn and walk away when she finally answered.

"It's different…warm…soft…like the summer. Not like the others."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"They are grey, muted, like old movies, like paper and ash. You're different but you try not to be."

Piberius simply stared at her in silence, what did she see, what did SHE see that he couldn't.

"I want to sleep." She said.

"Then why don't you?" he asked.

"Because even when I close my eyes it's bright."

"Why?"

"Because my eyelids are invisible silly." She replied with an unexpected child like response.

"I'll see what I can do." He replied.

"I see things so differently now."

"How so?" the fox asked.

"I see the truth of it all, even the hidden things."

"Like what?"

"Shadows in the dark." She smiled in a childlike state.

The lioness back off the glass and went back to the center of the room and just lied down against the padding face down presumably to block the light from her eyes.

Turning to go back to the other two, looking a tad disturbed, he turned to Dr. Doran.

"Get her a sleep mask or something, so she can rest."

At first Dr. Doran looked apathetic as if she was trying on a proverbial mask of her own, but Piberius saw a twinge, a twinge of guilt, it was small and it was brief, but it was something.

"Ok, I'll get her something." She said.

Piberius nodded at her as they walked onto the final chamber. Dr. Doran was visibly reluctant about opening her mouth to start speaking, looking into the chamber, and then taking a deep breath.

"This last one…is a recent addition, Code Name: White Space….um plain and simple, it increases cerebral capacity and neural speed, hand-eye coordination, perfect for data analysis or some kind of high speed data processing."

Sidney and Piberius finally looked in to see what Dr. Doran was having trouble describing. The chamber inside contained an ergonomic chair with a slight upward tilt, sitting in the chair was jaguar, the boy couldn't have been older than ten or eleven making him the youngest of all the test subjects. He had monitor equipment connected to him to watch his condition and straps to keep him from leaving the chair.

The room was dark, illuminated only by the light of the displays just above him, a split keyboard under each one of his paws, pages and pages of data moving very quickly across the screen, his eyes darting seemingly able to read it all, fingers frantically typing, a slight pant to his breathing, his tongue lolled out of his mouth occasionally as if having fun.

"What's the catch here?" asked Sidney.

"Well, the act of usage of the enhanced prowess causes stimulation of the pleasure center of the brain, and the rate of growth is not entirely controllable."

"So?"

"Well, basically it's sustainable, eventually the rate gets to the point that the subject….experiences…"

"What Doctor? Come on now, don't be shy." Sidney encouraged.

"Cerebral aneurysm, fatal brain hemorrhage."

"So they burn out?" He asked

"Eventually." She said almost apologetically.

"Well Doctor, you know what they say when a light bulb burns out. Right?" Sidney asked.

She didn't answer.

"Just screw in another one." He finished, smiling, making a twisting gesture with his paw.

"Yes, sir, we are working to overcome ALL of these issues." She replied putting on a respectful smile as best she could.

"Ahh, I assumed so, the need to continue your precious research and all."

Sidney pulled out the orb and gave the containment vial to the doctor who held it in her hooves.

"Continue the good work doctor, I'm endeavoring to find the bigger one, and then we can really change the world."

Sidney turned to leave.

"Come Piberius." He called.

"Just a moment, I wish to speak with the good doctor." Piberius countered.

"Alright, but don't dawdle, we have _things_ to do. M'boy" Sidney replied as he walked away.

"It will only be a few minutes." He replied.

Sidney said nothing in reply and walked out of the lab.

As soon as he left Piberius mannerism changed, he spun around to the doctor.

"What the fuck is this Doctor?" he asked angrily, gesturing to all the chambers.

"Exactly what Mr. Ridgeway requires." She answered sadly.

"And you condone this?"

Dr Doran took a deep breath, the huff of her exhale pretty much punctuated her mood.

" _When I started this I wasn't exactly made aware that I would be experimenting on children. But it's not my idea if that's what you're asking._ " She said trying to stay calm and whispering.

" _They're children doctor._ " He whispered back.

" _Yes, they are. And don't you dare try to put all of this on me. You were with him EVERY step of the way, you helped set ALL of this up, and even supervised the creation of the capture teams._ "

Piberius incensed grabbed the doctor by the throat, gritting his teeth.

" _I never kidnapped any children._ " He growled softly trying not to make a scene.

" _And I never told them I needed children._ "

" _Then why?_ "

" _Because Sidney has read Dekker's work._ " She replied, looking Piberius directly in the eye.

Piberius relaxed and let go of her neck, she reached up and rubbed the fur.

" _What about Dekkar?_ "

" _Dekkar said that based on what he knew, from his work on Project Rosslyn, that there may be some kind of 'genetic destiny' for Zootopians. And that where we are right now is the cusp of some transition and that these next coming generations would be the first steps towards….something._ " she answered

 _"I don't like it anymore then you do, Piberius."_

 _"Then why do you do it, why do you stay?"_ The fox fired back.

 _"For the same reason you stay…Because Sidney has that which we want, and he knows we won't leave or betray him as long as he does."_

 _"Now if you'll excuse me, I have patients to take care of."_ She said, dismissing Piberius.

* * *

 _Minutes later…_

Dr. Doran had followed the medical technician into the room with the young jaguar kit. The technician was unhooking the boy from the computer and chair assembly.

"So, did I do a good job?" he asked excitedly, apparently not aware of his situation.

"Yes, you did a very good job, Michael." She smiled sweetly.

She noticed a trickle of blood coming from the boy's nose, she took out a napkin and casually cleaned his face.

He clambered onto her, clinging to her neck and gave her a hug.

"Thank you." he said sweetly.

"What for?" she asked puzzled.

"For letting me make the world a better place." He replied, as he hugged her again, burying his head into her shoulder like a babe to its mother.

Her eyes glossed over slightly, a deep feeling in the pit of her stomach, and realized she was just as trapped as her patients.

* * *

 _"What was this all for Judy? To make the world a better place? Dr. Doran asked."_

 _"I can only wonder how in 100 years how people will look back and judge us for what we have done today."_

 _"My hope, Anabel, is that in 100 years, there will still be people TO judge us." Judy replied."_


End file.
